Eight years after it came into existence, the Palghar district police have finally set up its independent traffic police branch this month. Nearly 53 policemen have been selected by the district Superintendent of Police (SP) to undergo traffic management training. These policemen would be deployed at important junctions in the city, including the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway within the jurisdiction of Palghar district, where former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry had died in a mishap last month.
"Palghar was earlier part of the Thane Rural police and in August 2014 Palghar was made a separate district. Since then, there was no formation of a traffic branch within the jurisdiction of Palghar district police.
"All these years, officials from the local police stations had also been discharging traffic management duty. Thane Rural police had a traffic branch, but we did not have our own. However, in order to put a check on the increasing traffic snarls and mishaps within Palghar district, we decided to form an independent traffic branch within the district," said SP Balasaheb Patil.
"After taking charge as SP Palghar in June, I had sent a letter to the IG concerned stating that a dedicated traffic branch should be established. We need at least 100 policemen in the traffic branch. 53 policemen, including Assistant Police Inspector Asif Baig, have been selected for this dedicated branch and they would receive training in effective traffic management. Seven-day traffic management training of 32 policemen have already been completed and the training of remaining policemen will be completed in a few days," he added.
The SP said the deployment of the traffic officials would be done at Palghar, Dahanu, Wada, Boisar and also at Manor, Kasa and Talasari police stations under whose Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway stretch falls. According to the police, the district police have their own traffic branches to tackle traffic related issues. "Impact assessment of how the traffic scenario has been handled by the traffic branch can be done only next year," said Patil.
Taking serious note of the mishaps at the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway and in order to stop the mishaps, a meeting was taken by the Palghar police last month with the officials of the NHAI, road contractors responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the highway and Public Works Department officials. In the said meeting, a detailed discussion was done on the 15 black spots on the highway within the jurisdiction of the Palghar district.
"Measures were suggested to put up signboards, stop unauthorised road cutting, put up rumble strips to calm down the speed of vehicles, cat-eyes, delineators, blinkers and to fill the potholes at the highway, in order to avert the mishaps. NHAI has been asked to complete the said work within a span of three weeks," the Palghar police had said in a statement.
