Twin cities need more traffic cops

HUBLI: One more traffic police station has come up in Hubli to take care of the eastern part of the city. With this, the number of traffic police stations in the twin cities has gone up to four -- three in Hubli and one in Dharwad.
However, the mere increase in the number of stations is no solace for the burgeoning traffic woes of Hubli and Dharwad, where over 10,000 new vehicles are added every year.What the twin cities need desperately is more number of traffic cops to manage vehicular movement efficiently. But hardly any efforts have been made in this direction.
Even the newly opened east traffic police station has got less than 25 per cent of the sanctioned strength of 81. It has to manage with only a police inspector, four ASIs, five head constables and 10 constables in place of one inspector, two PSIs, four ASIs, 18 head constables and 54 constables.
A senior police official said that the new traffic police station, though was sanctioned a year ago, had to wait so long for its inauguration for want of staff. "We had to pay a monthly rent of about Rs 18,000 for four months by keeping the building vacant. Even after that we could start it with much difficulty. The staff had to be borrowed from other police stations," the official said.
Meanwhile, the police station armed with skeletal staff will have a tough time ahead considering the huge area that comes under it and the complex traffic issues concerning the areas. Rani Chennamma Circle, Dajibanpet, Anchatageri Oni, Kamaripet, Keshwapur, Lamington Road and Navalgund Road are some of the major places that the station covers. Hubli traffic ACP N S Patil said that the staff strength of the station will be increased subsequently.
300 vacancies in police department
A police official said that all police stations in twin cities are facing the problem of staff crunch. There is at least 25 per cent staff shortage in every police station and maintaining law and order is a major problem.
Police commissioner K Ramachandra Rao said that there are over 300 vacancies in Hubli Dharwad police commissionerate. But he was hopeful that the problem will be solved in another month as the recruitment process is underway. District minister Jagadish Shettar said that he will speak to home minister R Ashoka to see that vacancies in Hubli-Dharwad are filled as soon as possible.