‘Only humble traffic cops keep city moving’: Ex-Bengaluru top cop slams civic apathy

Bhaskar Rao said Bengaluru doesn’t need grand optics but stricter accountability.

Bengaluru’s former police commissioner Bhaskar Rao took to X on Tuesday to express frustration over the city’s chronic traffic and rain management woes, despite the involvement of top-tier officials, politicians, and urban planning bodies.

Bengaluru traffic cops manually declogging a flooded flyover to ease movement. (X/@Nimmabhaskar22)

Sharing a photo of traffic policemen manually declogging a flooded flyover to ease movement, Rao wrote, “Despite crores and crores of money and the most brilliant, well-heeled officers, cleverest politicians and committed NGOs, urban think tanks, argumentative tweeters, the most lavish seminars in 5-star hotels with foreign consultants on Bengaluru development, smart city architects, movers and shakers, candle lighters… it’s only the humble traffic policeman’s burden to keep Bengaluru moving on a rainy day.”

Check out his post here:

Rao, who served as the city’s police commissioner in 2019-2020, said he was torn between pride for the traffic police force and anger at the state of governance. “Should I be proud of my boys and girls of traffic or angry and frustrated with Bengaluru governance?” he wrote.

Calling out what he termed “silly seminars, workshops, and foolish spot visits” by senior officials, Rao said Bengaluru doesn’t need grand optics but stricter accountability. “You need to crack the whip to govern… Make them work!” he added.

The former Bengaluru police commissioner’s sharp remarks come at a time when the city has been battling relentless rain over the past three days, rainfall that has left large parts of the city inundated, traffic at a standstill, and civic agencies scrambling to respond. 

Roads turned into streams, underpasses filled up dangerously, flyovers overflowed, and commuters were stranded for hours as pre-monsoon showers battered the city.

From Whitefield to Hebbal, flooding and waterlogging were reported across major arterial roads, IT corridors, and residential neighbourhoods. In several places, stormwater drains failed to cope with the sheer volume of rain, causing backflow onto roads and homes. 

Videos of two-wheelers floating in knee-deep water and traffic stretched across kilometres have flooded social media over the past 72 hours, with many questioning the preparedness of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and other civic bodies.