Unique initiative by Halasurgate Traffic Police, Artist dressed as Yamaraj” warns Traffic violators

“Isn’t it a foolish joke to act like Yamaraj to warn people who violate traffic rules?! What about those whom these violators kill on the road?!!”.

Stop violating traffic rules, otherwise ‘yamaraj’ just might have to give you a warning, just like he did to these people.

A mace-wielding ‘Yamaraja,’ God of Death, attired in his traditional golden dress, intercepted motorists near the Town hall in Bengaluru today and warned them he would visit their homes if they flouted traffic rules.

After intercepting mostly young motorists, Yama waved his mace in the air, warning them that he would not spare them.

In some cases, he rode pillion on those motorcycles that were driven recklessly.

Having repeatedly come up against people’s obsession with flouting traffic rules while driving, despite any number of warnings and special drives, the Halasurgate traffic police have now decided to quite literally put the fear of death in such commuters.Starting a series of special drives in the city will feature yamaraj, the Hindu god of death, teaching errant commuters the importance of hanging up the phone,wearing helmet and do not drink and drive while on the road.

According to the plan, if a driver is seen driving helmet less and using the phone, rather than the police, a volunteer dressed as Yamaraj will appear before them, (Hindu god in charge of deciding who goes to heaven or hell after death).

After stopping the driver, Yamaraj will ask him, ‘Do you want to come with me?’ clearly stating that death is the only outcome of driving without helmet and using phone while driving.

The idea, that kicked off near town hall in Bengaluru on Tuesday, was floated by, Mohammed Ali,Inspector from the Halasurgate Traffic Police Station given an emphatic nod by Addl CP Traffic,R Hitendra with DCP Traffic East,Anupam Agarwal.The idea was originally floated by the Bengaluru Traffic police a few years ago,to curb drunken driving Bengaluru Police Commissioner,T Suneel Kumar has appreciated the cops for their unique initiative.

Elaborating on the thought that went into it, Senior officer told “The fear of death is a powerful deterrent.Traditionally, in Hindu culture,most people are conditioned to fear yamaraj, believed to be a god who takes away life.Our plan is to play on this fear.The common psychology is such that human beings are far more likely to do something if a reward is imminent. Similarly, they are as likely to refrain from an act if they are truly afraid of repercussions.Charging hefty fines won’t create much of an impact on motorists. But, the face of yamaraj will haunt them the next time they answer a call,riding without helmet while on the road he added.

The actor, who stopped motorists and reminded them of the importance of sticking to road rules, was Veeresh, a theatre artiste performing Hindu mythology-based dramas,voluntarily stepped in to aid traffic cops. Speaking to media persons he said,I feel it is my responsibility to help police create awareness.My physique is suitable for the character of Yamraj so when the police approached me with this request, I readily accepted. If my role as yamaraj manages to bring down the number of drivers flouting traffic rules even by some small percentage, I will feel that I have contributed to the betterment of society he added.

DCP Traffic East Anupam Agarwal, told media persons,Extreme as the idea may sound, traffic cops feel that nothing less than a major shock to the system will impact drivers. In the past, there have been a number of special drives as we have created awareness by giving lectures in schools and colleges,street plays and recently we have conducted a workshop for the drunk drivers and we have given sapplings too to plant tree for the violators and we are observing July month as traffic road safety month he added.

However, police officials on the field claim that there has been very little improvement on this front among the public. Hopefully, a faceoff with the god of death will get people to hang up.

Till June-end this year, 2,336 accidents have been reported, of which 330 were fatal, they said.By last December-end, 5,064 accidents had been reported, of which 609 were fatal.In 2016, 7,506 accidents took place of which 754 were fatal.