Students to direct traffic during fests

MUMBAI: With the festive season kicking in, most college students are looking forward to taking a break from lectures. However, some of their classmates will step

MUMBAI: With the festive season kicking in, most college students are looking forward to taking a break from lectures. However, some of their classmates will step out on streets wearing fluorescent green jackets, stand at traffic junctions and near Ganpati pandals, guiding vehicles and directing queues of devotees. These are National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers, who assist the city police in ensuring smooth flow of traffic and people during festivals.

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The city streets turn chaotic during the festive season. As the traffic police struggle with a shortage of personnel, students will lend a helping hand. The police are training students in traffic safety and management. “During the festive season, managing traffic becomes a task for our limited force. We have been seeking the help of college students, but the initiative was expanded under the new commissioner of police,” said Sunil Paraskar, additional commissioner of police (traffic).

Students started their voluntary service with dahi handi last week. On Thursday, around 20 students from Vivekananda Education Society’s Institute in Technology in Chembur, fanned across different parts of Chembur to ensure that the festivities did not inconvenience residents.

“Recognising the need for citizen participation in assisting the police to maintain decorum and prevent unruly behaviour, a local self-help group approached us with a proposal to assist the police a day before the festival. We immediately agreed,” said Kaustubh Dhake, Secretary, VESIT social responsibility team cell.

In September, as the city brims with the euphoria of its largest, loudest and the most chaotic festival - Ganeshotsav - students from MD College, Parel, will be manning the busy traffic junction in Dadar and controlling the crowd at the city’s most popular Ganpati mandal - Lalbaugcha Raja. In the same month, when pilgrims and revellers will throng Bandra for the annual Mount Mary fair, the city police will rely on students from Rizvi College, Bandra, to manage traffic in the western suburbs. “It’s a fun activity for students,” said Paul Raja, NSS coordinator of the college.

The police and colleges said the activity also helps students inculcate respect for law and the job done by police . “When students start implementing the law, they also start obeying it,” said Raja.

Satish Kolte, NSS coordinator, KC College, Churchgate, said the college plans to train around 250 students from four south Mumbai colleges in traffic safety, with the help of police and Traffic Training Institute in Byculla.