THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There is no relief for the common man from traffic regulations for VIPs’ vehicles even as beacon lights have been take off from VIP vehicles with the aim of putting an end to the VIP culture on roads. Stopping vehicles of common man without prior notice, that too at peak hours while people are rushing to offices, to facilitate free movement of VIP vehicles is still common. The other day a doctor in Kochi took nearly two hours to reach his hospital, hardly three kilometers away from his house, to attend a medical emergency.
This was due to traffic restrictions for Vice President’s visit. "Even last week I was held up in a traffic block at Vellayambalam for about ten minutes as the police blocked the vehicles for the Chief Minister's vehicle to come from Keston road. It was around 10.30 a.m and almost all the motorists were in a hurry for their livelihood needs. The police had a very simple reply of security," said a Peroorkada resident.
Stopping vehicles of common man to facilitate the easy movement of VIP vehicles is quite rampant at roads near Cliff House compound where the official residences of the Chief Minister and many ministers are located. Traffic experts cite that while security of VIPs could not be compromised what the police could do is to minimise the duration for restrictions. Often the cops used to block roads even an hour in advance to facilitate movement of VVIPs’ vehicles. The state capital recently witnessed it during the visit of President.
"What the police could do to minimise the chaos during VVIPs' motorcade movement is to conduct trail runs in a scientific manner. If the VVIP’s movement is scheduled to take place during peak hour, the trial should be also conducted during the same time couple of days in advance so that the police could get a real feel of the impact. Based on that traffic regulations could be made," said road safety expert Upendra Narayanan. He also suggested that the traffic police should be made an independent wing so that officials were not transferred out of it. It would help officials put in more focus on road safety related matters.
