1,100 traffic cops to man 211 water-logged locations across city

The Gurugram traffic police will deploy 1,100 personnel at 211 points across the city during monsoon to regulate traffic and tow away vehicles, said officials on Saturday adding that it is the first monsoon where traffic police will extensively make use of CCTV surveillance to deploy personnel at waterlogged spots

The Gurugram traffic police will deploy 1,100 personnel at 211 points across the city during monsoon to regulate traffic and tow away vehicles, said officials on Saturday adding that it is the first monsoon where traffic police will extensively make use of CCTV surveillance to deploy personnel at waterlogged spots.

Police personnel push a school bus stuck on a waterlogged road at Subhash chowk in Gurugram. (HT archive)

Deputy commissioner of police (traffic), Gurugram, Ravinder Singh Tomar said officials will be deputed in batches of 2-4 at some points while there are some points such as Narsinghpur, Khandsa, Sohna Road, and AIT Chowk, which have a high volume of traffic and are prone to waterlogging, that will require 10-12 personnel each.

The 211 locations include key junctions such as Hero Honda Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Signature Towers, IFFCO Chowk, AIT Chowk, Vatika Chowk, Subhash Chowk, Khushboo Chowk, Jharsa Chowk, Atlas Chowk, and Shankar Chowk.

“Duties have been assigned to all the concerned traffic officials... We have surveyed the city to assess the number of officials needed at each point, which has been determined by the traffic volume and severity of waterlogging seen at these locations in the past few years,” said Tomar.

The DCP also said at least 70% of the 211 points are under CCTV surveillance and will be monitored 24x7 from the traffic tower in Sushant Lok 1 and GMDA’s Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) in Sector 44 to track waterlogging and traffic congestion when it rains. Most of the CCTV cameras have been installed by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) in the last one year.

An official statement issued by the GMDA last month stated that over 1,130 CCTV cameras were operational at more than 200 locations in the city.

The traffic police have also constituted two quick response teams (QRTs) for the monsoon season. “One QRT team has 20 police officials, and the other has 12 police...both teams will be equipped with recovery vans for towing broken down vehicles,” said Tomar adding that the QRTs will be dispatched to locations, where maximum waterlogging and traffic-related issues are reported.

The first QRT team will work on a 24x7 shift while the other will function on a 12-hour period between 8 am and 8 pm, he said.

For assistance during the rains, the traffic police have also launched three helpline numbers at the traffic police control room-01242386000, 01242386004, and 01242386005.