The figures appear quite grim: the number of staff sicknesses registered at Metropolitan Traffic Police Office (MTPO) in a year"s period from September 30, 2009 is 1,061. That is nearly double the number registered in the previous comparable period--662. MTPO has only 565 traffic cops who actually work the streets.[break]
Of them, Mana Kumari Waiwa has already become a regular sufferer of headaches after two years as a traffic cop. “Tonsillitis is normal for me,” said the constable in her early 20"s, sparing a few seconds to talk to Republica while on duty at the teeming intersection at Tripureshwar. “It"s only been about two years. There are many more ailments ahead.”
Mana Kumari does not just count the problems facing a majority of traffic cops who have already developed acute maladies and even face new woes like hypertension and mental disorder. Figures show stark increases in serious cases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chest infection, varicose veins, asthma and hypertension.
The phenomenon must have been moving forward parallel to the pollution caused by traffic hazards in the capital, said Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Binod Singh, the MTPO chief.
“Everything in this horrible picture of bad health among traffic cops is on the increase but not the number of our personnel nor our resources,” Singh quipped. “MTPO has been working with a force of some 900 personnel since the age when the vehicle count in the capital would not reach even 100,000.”
Out of the 900-strong force, only 45 percent remain available for deployment in the streets, due to many reasons. “The rule providing for the release of 10 percent of them on leave on a regular basis largely takes care of the sicknesses.”
Singh said that a traffic cop generally works 12-16 hours a day in two shifts, adding, “that too in one of the most polluted cities of the world.”
“What worries us is that there are not only hearing, lung and cardiac problems, but nervous breakdowns and psychiatric disorders are also on the rise,” he said.
The government had last year announced through the budget statement a 25 percent increment in the salaries of traffic cops, taking into account their hazardous working conditions. But the pay hike did not materialize.
As the Finance Ministry could not find the money, the Department of Transport Management (DOTM) proposed to manage the budget to this end by increasing fines for traffic rule violators by 50 percent, MTPO officials said. But the idea has also been of no avail for lack of necessary legal provisions.
Dr. Rai´s research on traffic cops´ health
In view of the increasing pollution caused basically by vehicle emissions, Dr. Kiran Rai, a senior ENT surgeon at the army hospital, has started a research project on the health of traffic cops in the capital. Dr. Rai"s single-handed and self-funded research will cover some 100 serving traffic cops.
“They are exposed to high degrees of sound and air pollution and could be suffering from an array of health hazards, ranging from loss of hearing to stress,” he said, explaining his hypotheses. “For now, I am only conducting tests on them and following their medical histories.”
“I approach my samples on Saturdays only. So it is going to take several months,´ he said. “I need to compile and analyze the data and then I will be able to come out with my findings.”
MTPO chief Singh acknowledges that Dr. Rai"s research is a first of its kind and could give us a comprehensive picture about the deteriorating health of traffic cops.
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