When traffic jams occur every imaginable and unimaginable thing converges on the streets mounting to the chaos.
The only thing conspicuously absent is the traffic police manning the roads and regulating the vehicular movement.
Last week's jam that threw life out of gear in Jammu city for over six hours was no exception.
The entire city was caught in the grip of chaos and confusion when traffic police miserably failed to perform as Guru Ravi Dass birth anniversary procession snaked its way through the main thoroughfares of the city amidst the Eid fervour and absolved itself of the onus of 'inefficiency' by dutifully devoting itself to more 'important' issues like regulating the VVIP movement as the chief justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court was being sworn-in the same day.
All the three events - the procession, the third day of Eid festivity and the swearing-in ceremony were known events and did not happen spontaneous.
The traffic jam was predictable but then so was the non-performance of the cops on the roads who are known to contribute nothing to such situations but for adding to the existing chaos.
The scene is visited day in and day out specially on days of processions howsoever miniscule there may be.
Then why have a battery of traffic cops recruited to regulate vehicular traffic and ease congestion on roads? Obviously those at the helm of affairs would beg to disagree.
That is because they all fit into the bracket of VVIPs at whose service alone the traffic cops exist on roads.
It may be no wonder or surprise when any traffic cop, irresponsive to complaints on the roads, reasons that he is on duty for VVIP movement.
It is also no small measure of surprise that he appears with his 'magic wand-the lathi' and his 'royal nagara-the whistle' in brisk smartness when there is a VVIP movement on the road.
Though, this species is also easily spotted on occasions like traffic safety weeks and special drives against traffic violators when he can find inventive ways to harass the law abiding citizens and spare the violators for his interests or those of his bosses.
Otherwise, he loiters about aimlessly, whimsically stopping a vehicle or two, sometimes for no reason at all, or waves his magic wand to either regulate the traffic that is already freely moving or show a green signal to vehicles coming from opposite sides at the same time so that they can perform their dare-devilry in trying to avert a possible crash or collision.
At other times, he suddenly appears from nowhere to ensure that a traffic vehicle, an official vehicle or a VVIP vehicle can smoothly take a short cut from the wrong side of the one-way traffic.
The worst possible can happen when traffic jams take place.
The cops may be the first ones to do the disappearing act allowing impatient drivers to make hasty retreats into the wrong sides, reverse, or turn around from any possible space that is available, specially the scooterists, who have mastered the art of snaking their way through the maze of automobiles and pedestrians on the roads.
By the time it is a totally difficult situation and out of control, with cars halted just inches of space between any two automobiles and stranded school students forced to alight from their school buses and trudge the roads with their heavy satchels, a cop or two may suddenly surface.
Before any stranded person can begin to see in him a messiah as he gets into action, blowing his whistle and weilding his lathi, he shouts his head off why two rows of vehicles have been made in place of one, the elusive dream is over.
He does manage to make some space through those yards and yards of metallic bodies on wheels - but only to facilitate a VIP vehicle or a police car to do the honours of adding to the confusion.
If the entire traffic police is so VVIP oriented and feels duty bound only to those who are somebody in the circles of power, and not as much for regulation of traffic, why not disband it altogether.
There should instead be a VVIP movement police force.
That purpose the traffic department is already serving.
It might only be an act of honesty to change the nomenclature.
But then like the English bard What is in a name after all? About us | Advertise | Other Publications | Subscriptions | Weather | Letters | Send Mail Disclaimer: Information is being made available at this site purely as a measure of public facilitation.
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