E-Paper
‘Yamaraj’ appears on city streets to spread road safety message
“Yes! I am Yamaraj. I am here to warn you,” said Kumar Gaurav, an artiste-cum-social activist, who in the garb of Yamaraj, has taken his NGO Yuva’s road safety campaign to the streets.
Commuters approaching Bharat Nagar Chowk on Friday were in for surprise as Yamaraj and Chitragupta greeted them. No, they did not descend from the sky, but were there to remind commuters what flouting traffic rules could lead to.
“Yes! I am Yamaraj. I am here to warn you,” said Kumar Gaurav, an artiste-cum-social activist, who in the garb of Yamaraj, has taken his NGO Yuva’s road safety campaign to the streets.
Running behind traffic violators at the busy intersection, he reminded them how Ludhiana was the most unsafe district in the state with 1,795 road mishap fatalities in the past three years.
His team and several school children in tow, Gaurav reached Bharat Nagar Chowk at 12pm. While Gaurav, complete with his eye-grabbing Yamaraj costume, reminded violators of the doom awaiting, students did their part by carrying banners.
Standing at the four corners of the intersection, students highlighted slogans such as “Our safety is in our hands, must wear helmet”, “Drive safely and not above the speed limit” and “Apply seat belt while driving”.
Intercepting motorists, who were riding two-wheelers without helmets, were stopping beyond the zebra crossing or jumping the red light, Yamaraj appealed to them, “Do not invoke me, follow the traffic rules instead.”
Pointing to violators with his mace (gada), Gaurav said commuters had the tendency to blame police for not managing the traffic and also point fingers at police for the increasing number of accidents, but they themselves did not obey traffic rules, and hence were responsible for accidents.
“Residents should drive safely on roads, avoid speeding and drunken driving, and should also help inculcate the sense of travelling responsibly among others,” he said.
Ironically, the NGO’s awareness drive led to chaos at the intersection, as its team and mediapersons halted violators to spread the message. Subsequently, traffic police shut off the traffic lights and started managing the traffic manually, much to the chagrin of commuters.
