Here’s how the Mumbai traffic police will give you respite from traffic snarls

Joint commissioner tells all 34 divisions to begin the exercise this month

You are not the only one fed up with the city’s crowded roads and massive jams. The men and women who help you make your way through the mess every morning and evening are too.

With little help from any other department and more vehicles crowding the roads, the Mumbai traffic police have decided to take charge — they will find problems in their areas, identify what’s causing them and find a way to solve these issues.

Amitesh Kumar, the joint commissioner of police (traffic), has asked each of the 34 divisions to identify at least two problems causing congestion in their jurisdictions every month.

The divisions will then take these issues to the agencies concerned and solve them. For instance, the traffic police found that garbage being dumped on the roads and encroachments were disrupting the flow of traffic outside Bandra station.

They asked the railways to help them clear encroachments and BMC to help them with the garbage problem.

READ: Four-hour ban on heavy vehicles on Mumbai’s Western Express Highway during evening peak hours

The move comes after Borivli resident Amar Shah approached the joint commissioner about luxury outstation buses being parked at the Goragandhi junction outside Borivli station.

The buses were taking up space on the road and causing jams, Shah and the residents of 40 societies in the area said. After the complaint, Kumar posted two constables on the stretch and traffic started flowing smoothly. Kumar said this sparked the idea to get the traffic police to take charge and solve issues. “Instead of expecting other agencies to solve the problem, we help them out and solve them together.”

Kumar said, “Traffic is a problem affecting the whole city. Each division picks out spots with the most chronic problems and try to solve them. We started off with 10 spots last month, and the situation there has improved considerably,” Kumar said.