Preaching police catch pedestrians unawares!

Preaching police catch pedestrians unawares!
Deccan Herald

Monday evening saw several batches of somewhat bewildered - and sometimes quite cross - pedestrians and cyclists gathered under a pandal that was set up on the greener bank of M G Road.

Monday evening saw several batches of somewhat bewildered - and sometimes quite cross - pedestrians and cyclists gathered under a pandal that was set up on the greener bank of M G Road. There, they were advised not to do what they had been caught doing - crossing the road where the zebra crossing wasn’t.

Despite the initial discomfiture that is but natural during interactions with uniformed personnel of the police force, most of them were relieved to find out that there was no fine to pay, no court summons that would be sent to their homes.

Because, as K Eshwar Prasad, ACP, Central Traffic Subdivision, explained to this newspaper, “the intention is not prosecution”. Rather, he said, it was an “awareness campaign”, timed to do something about all those jaywalkers of the evening, because you cannot send them to court because it is too late in the day.

There is no spot fine for jaywalking.

Cross citizenry

Some of the ensnared citizenry, like Manoj (software professional) frankly didn’t see the point. “They have one zebra crossing for the whole road, other than at the ends, and they expect me to walk half a kilometre before I cross?” he wondered, but only after nodding politely through the session. When this was suggested to Prasad, he retorted that the pedestrian would have to learn to plan his journey ahead.

Yes, but what about the world beyond M G Road, in Pedestrian Hell, like broad, fast K G Road? Well, he replied, we have to start somewhere. “If we just advice them on the spot they will take it more casually,” Mr Prasad explained. “Like this, they will remember better.”

Others who got landed were more overtly frothing at anyone whom they could spot — policeman or newsphotographer. One family cleverly mumbled something about “have to go” to a policeman before giving him the slip.

But it was a Nepali watchman duo - Yuvaraj Rawat and Kamal, who had been caught jaycycling - who summed it up cheerfully:

“They are doing it for our sake, which is a good thing,” said Yuvaraj, while the other added: “Now to figure out how exactly we are going to do follow what they say.”