Police launch special training drive for traffic marshals to held ease congestion on Chennai roads

GCTP trains 600 traffic marshals to decongest Chennai roads. Marshals taught traffic regulation, how to allow pedestrians/ambulances to pass, and how to engage politely with motorists. Training at Armed Reserve grounds, first batch of 52 trained by AC-level officer. Will help traffic police manage traffic and decongest roads.

The Greater Chennai Traffic Police (GCTP) is training traffic marshals of construction companies working on Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) phase II project across the city.

The GCTP said traffic management in a metro city like Chennai is a huge challenge. There are about 60 lakh vehicles registered in the city, and this number grows every day, which further complicates and strains the flow of traffic. To top it all off, CMRL’s phase 2 project work has narrowed down the carriageway by one third in most major roads in the city.

Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Kapilkumar C. Saratkar, said: “In order to decongest the roads, traffic marshals have been employed by the construction firm working on the Metro Rail project. There are about 600 persons contracted to assist the traffic police in its task to ease congestion on city roads. They work in shifts during the day and night. However, they have not been trained properly to manage traffic. Hence, experienced traffic personnel are training them in traffic regulation and imparting necessary soft skills to handle motorists as part of the special drive.”

They began training in batches at the Armed Reserve grounds at St. Thomas Mount starting Tuesday. In the first batch, 52 marshals were trained by an Assistant Commissioner-level officer. They were trained in various aspects of traffic regulation, how to allow pedestrians to cross and ambulances to pass, and how to engage politely with motorists. They were advised not to use mobile phones while on duty and to wear reflective jackets during evening hours as a safety precaution.

The other batches will be trained over the next few days. This training will help traffic police in the efficient management of vehicular traffic and decongestion of roads without delay, Mr. Saratkar said.