Faulty traffic signals expose traffic police to health hazards

Traffic police personnel manning junctions in Bengaluru and Mysuru are facing health hazards due to prolonged manual traffic regulation necessitated by faulty traffic signals, Karnataka State Police Complaints Authority member Mohan Kumar Danappa has said.

In a letter to the Director-General and Inspector-General of Police on Friday, Mr. Danappa stated that personnel were being made to regulate traffic manually for nearly eight hours a day at junctions where signal systems had not been functioning properly for several months due to inadequate Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) arrangements.

He said, “The traffic police were exposed for long periods to heat, rain, dust and vehicular emissions while performing their duties from morning to evening. The prolonged exposure and working conditions were reportedly causing health problems, including eye irritation, sleep disturbances and physical and mental stress.”