The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : They have learnt to live with pain

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 19, 2006
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

They have learnt to live with pain

Raghava M.

IN HELL: This traffic constable on Old Madras Road in Bangalore has to brave air and sound pollution while on duty. — Photo: K. Gopinathan

BANGALORE: Traffic constable Ananda Shetty is standing at the Suranjandas Road junction on a hot, sweltering afternoon controlling traffic on the busy Old Madras Road. He has to manually control the traffic as the signals are not working.

He can hardly move an inch as vehicles go past him on this bumpy stretch of road spewing smoke and throwing up dust on his face.

Ananda Shetty stands there continuously for eight hours until 2.30 p.m. when his eight-hour duty ends. "I have to bear this dust, heat and sound every day."

Health

The constable, who has put in 11 years of service, says, "I suffer from diabetes. Several of my colleagues have problems of hearing and breathing. We have learnt to live with body aches."

K.L. Sundara, who is manning the traffic on the Outer Ring Road near Kalyan Nagar, says they are only given masks as a step against pollution.

"The mask is not of much use. We can neither blow our whistles nor interact with drivers. The mask is also flimsy," he says. "Instead, what I do is to stand with my back against the wind and avoid inhaling exhaust emission. But there is nothing I can do against sound and noise pollution."

Apart from the pollution, the traffic policemen have to be on duty for long hours. At the busy K.R. Circle, Police Timmaiah intersection on Raj Bhavan Road, Income Tax Circle on Bhagwan Mahaveer Road and Trinity Circle, they sometimes work 15 hours a day.

"We have to do this as we are in the area where VIPs move about. We cannot take a break without alerting senior officers, " a senior constable said.

The constables do not have a decent shelter either.

"These age-old structures do not protect us from rain. There is no space to keep water, raincoat and spare uniform," a constable said.

Another constable working the evening shift on Richmond Road laments that the headlights continue to haunt him in his sleep. "When I close my eyes, all I can see are the headlights," he says.

The traffic policemen say they cannot afford regular health check-ups. Their salaries don't permit this "luxury".

In the last two years, health check-ups have not been done at all. "Its only when private hospitals conduct camps that we get ourselves checked," a senior constable said.

"Our officers know our problems. But they are in a helpless situation," he adds.

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