Kolkata cops set up spl pedestrian channels outside schools
Times of India | 1 December 2024
12 Kolkata: The Kolkata Traffic Police has introduced special channels outside schools by putting up guardrails to ensure that students do not stray onto the roads as they step out of their respective school buildings. An extra cop has been deployed at places, where guardrails cannot be set up due to space constraints.The cop will manage the cross-overs and oversee parking of school vehicles.
"The mantra is to regulate traffic, even at the cost of slowing it down, but not allowing unauthorized student crossovers that can possibly lead to an accident," said a top cop at Lalbazar. The development comes after Lalbazar asked all traffic guards, especially those handling the major schools, to deploy enough personnel outside schools. The cops were asked to ensure that all crossover points used by students are especially covered by the officers at the time of the students' arrival and during their dispersal. The local police station, too, was asked to chip in as required.
At St. Thomas Girls' School, cops have set up guardrails to ensure that vehicles on both flanks do not block each other at the crucial DH Road turning, barely 50 metres from the school gate. A separate channel has been created with cop deployment during school dispersal. A drop gate is also placed during this time right at the school gates. In addition, cops removed illegal parking around the gates.
Extra cops have been deployed at bot MP Birla HS School and Vivekananda Mission to ensure that the students crossover safely only from the zebra crossing on the ever-busy James Long Sarani and DH Road. For this, cops have even met the school bus and pool car drivers, who were instructed to accompany students as they cross over. Sometimes, cops are using channels on specialised days based on the ground requirements.
Traffic cops are also setting up similar channels outside Birla High School and Abhinav Bharti School during exams. "This is being done since one of their gates is kept shut on these days," explained an officer.
Each traffic guard has also taken up safety at schools as a motto. Besides the traffic guards, each of the nine divisions began a study to identify the schools located on main thoroughfares and are more vulnerable to accidents so that they can plan measures to address the safety concerns at a local level. This will go beyond the major schools, which already have a robust traffic system in place. Officers in charge of police stations across nine divisions of the city were asked to identify schools under their jurisdictions and draw up a report on the challenges that students may face in their daily commute. The report will cover crucial aspects like whether there is a greater use of public transport by the students, the location and distance of bus stops from the school, and the placement of CCTV that can cover their entry and dispersal from school.