Traffic issues in Visakhapatnam will be addressed on a priority, says DGP

‘We will deal with them in phases and will take up road engineering’

The city and the district have some traffic issues and they will be addressed on a priority basis, said Director General of Police K.V. Rajendranath Reddy. He was here as part of MILAN-2022 and was addressing a press conference after conducting a review meeting with the city and the district police here on Monday. According to him, the issues pertaining to law and order or crime are minimal but there are some issues relating to traffic. “We will deal with them in phases and if required will take up the required road engineering. But primarily, there are some issues pertaining to traffic during major events and bandobust. There are some coordination issues and we are trying to iron them out, as our goal is to see that the general public is not inconvenienced,” he said.

Speaking about ganja cultivation, trade and smuggling, he said that the cultivation is taken up in interior villages that still have some presence of the Maoists. “Slowly, we are destroying the crop and showing the tribals different crops for a sustainable sustenance in collaboration with other departments such as Agriculture and Horticulture,” he said. “We are also coordinating with the Odisha Government to control the menace in the AOB region and may also soon take up joint operations,” the DGP said On the recent seizures of drugs, Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said, “The seizures were in small quantities, but it has to be nipped in the bud, before it becomes a menace. We have taken note of it and have advised the officers to increase their focus on colleges, resorts, tourist spots and other places.”

On the Maoists in AOB region, he said that the issue is being addressed and still there are some presence in AOB and East Godavari district. As we make deep incursions they shift their bases and we are working on how to keep them away. On the policing front, the DGP said that the prime objective is to improve the interface between the police and the public and whenever there is an issue, people can approach the higher officers if the response at the lower level is not satisfactory. He also said that efforts are on to synergise the Mahila Police concept to the police force on the same lines under the Village Police Act. On a question, whether there are sufficient IPS officers to take charge of the new districts, he said as of now there is no shortage.