Mumbai, June 28
The authorities in Mumbai have come up with a unique idea of installing cardboard cutouts of traffic policeman to curb speeding on the city’s roads.
Since the past two days, the traffic police department has kept cardboard cutouts of a constable in uniform at strategic locations in order to deter those speeding. Alongside the cutouts are dummy speed guns that have become prominent fixtures in many parts of the city after speeding vehicles resulted in accidents.
According to deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Harish
Baijal, the idea was borrowed from the Canadian police that had successfully implemented the plan to deter speedsters. “Such measures have worked in Canada and we hope to reduce speeding in Mumbai as well,” Baijal said.
However, the scheme has begun to fall flat with several newspapers publishing photographs of the cutouts. Rains are another threat to these cutouts. “We have to ensure that the cutouts do not get damaged in the rains,” a traffic police constable, tasked with “deploying” the cutouts at different places, said.
Some television channels have also parked their camera crews next to the cutouts to film the reactions of the motorists, thereby drawing attention to the ploy of the traffic police.
According to
Baijal, the decision was taken after 200 accidents were reported along this highway in June alone with over-speeding one of the main reasons behind mishaps.
Agencies like the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, who are tasked with maintaining this highway, have been blaming each other for the accidents.
