We know by experience that stepping out onto the road to reach our destinations is no easy feat. On the way, we face various obstacles caused by the misdemeanor of indifferent people who lack discipline.[break]
In a country where rules are made to be broken, traffic police officers alone are not able to surmount this prevailing problem. Even so, braving both the crazy traffic and the intolerable pollution of the city are some traffic volunteers and organizers of traffic volunteering programs. And it is high time that their contributions be acknowledged.
Ananda Joshi, 57, a businessman and a traffic volunteer, started the venture of organizing youth traffic volunteers some six years ago.
“I gathered sponsors for various local social clubs, such as Deurali Club and Sorha Unantis Club of Thamel and encouraged members to join the endeavor,” shares Joshi, who began the initiative under the then Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and traffic chief Bhisma Prasai.
“Every month, each club received Rs 1,000 per volunteer for their participation,” he furthers, clarifying that the money did not go to individuals but to the clubs. The motive was to “keep the clubs alive,” he says.
With financial help from World Health Organization (WHO) and the Nepal Red Cross, Joshi provided trainings to 22 volunteers on assisting traffic officers. Volunteers also received training for emergencies, such as road accidents. These included attending to victims immediately, informing the police and controlling the crowd until the arrival of an ambulance.
Joshi, however, recalls that looking for sponsors at first was not an easy job and that sometimes it was even harder to find youth clubs.
One of the volunteers who worked under Joshi was 28-year-old Madan Pulami.
“I worked as a traffic volunteer for two months in 2008,” says Pulami, who is the accountant of Godavari Alumni Association. He further confides, “I gained a lot of confidence during that period and also gained respect and encouragement from a lot of people.”
Jujubhai Tandulkar, a traffic police officer, has been conducting classes on traffic volunteering for students in schools and colleges for the past two years.
“The responses I get are good because many students are eager to join traffic volunteering,” he states and adds, “So far, traffic volunteering has proved to be helpful.”
While the number of volunteers has grown, it has also become haphazard. The mismanagement has led to the talk of creating a training program titled Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) by the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office.
“Volunteers need to be eligible to take upon the job and are required to be efficient and responsible,” emphasizes Joshi and continues, “The main motive behind the training is to streamline volunteers through smooth management.”
However, according to him, SOP has yet to be formulated by the authorities concerned, and with hope, it will begin next month.
While the implementation of SOP is on the line, what motivates traffic volunteers to take on the job itself is an intriguing question. Even in scorching heat, dust and smoke, incessant hullabaloo of horns, and rowdy drivers on the dreadful streets of Kathmandu, volunteers still have the drive to work, and their tolerance is noteworthy.
“As a responsible individual, I want to contribute something to the society. I’m doing this as a social work for the benefits of people,” asserts traffic volunteer Shekhar Chandra Rai, 38. Rai is not affiliated to any youth club and he approached the traffic police officers to volunteer himself.
“I’ve been volunteering on the streets for the past four years,” informs Rai, who works almost everyday for five to six hours, especially during the peak hours. Rai works in and around Ring Road, and as required, in given areas of the city as well.
Despite his years of selfless service, Rai’s identification card (ID) has not been renewed.
“We were told by the traffic department that the Home Ministry has decided not to have our IDs renewed,” laments Rai, “If policymakers don’t have positive outlooks, nothing can be done at the grassroots level.”
As such, traffic volunteers have been making the jobs of traffic police officers easier, and they enjoy the support of policy makers, the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, as well as locals to boost their efforts in taking such an initiative.
Currently, there are only 10 to 12 permanent traffic volunteers, and they all have been working with expired IDs. Several eligible volunteers are therefore waiting for the SOP to be drafted.
“I participated as a volunteer on Traffic Awareness Day this year and felt like a responsible citizen. If given the opportunity, I would volunteer again,” puts in Pavitra Rana, a student of Apex College. Traffic Awareness Day is observed annually on July 6.
“During my volunteering, I found some riders and pedestrians uncooperative,” Rana points out and elaborates, “They didn’t pay any heed to the traffic officers. We were making them aware of traffic rules for their own good, but many didn’t seem to care.”
According to officials, there are an estimated 450,000 vehicles in Kathmandu and just around 950 traffic police officers to control and manage them. That is, for every 474 vehicles, there is only one traffic police personnel. The situation worsens during load shedding hours when traffic lights stop operating.
Under such dreadful conditions and in a city where roads are narrow and where the public is unaware of and indifferent to traffic rules, and where the number of vehicles are multiplying steadily, we are undoubtedly in dire needs of such self-motivated volunteers who work without expecting any rewards, monetary or otherwise.
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