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Dr. M. A. Saleem - The Ex- A.C.P, Traffic Police, Bangalore, India

Introduction
Dr. M. A. Saleem, born on June 25, 1966 in a town near Bangalore has a brilliant academic record. He completed his Masters in Commerce in 1989, Masters Degree in Police Management from Osmania University in 1993, Doctorate Degree in Traffic Management from Bangalore University in 2010 and was selected through the All India Civil Service Examination to the Indian Police Service (IPS), Karnataka Cadre in 1993. His contribution towards society is humongous. He has brought in a massive change in the traffic system. He is a person with rich real experience.
m a saleem,additional commissioner of police
Dr. Saleem has a rich work experience.
Served Karnataka State Police in the following capacities:-

He has served as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Gulbarga, Assistant Superintendent of Police in Kushalnagar Sub Division, Assistant Superintendent of Police in Sagar Sub Division, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Crime in Bangalore City, Dy. Commissioner of Police (L&O) in Mysore City, Commandant, Karnataka Armed Reserve Police in Mysore, Superintendent of Police, Udupi District, Superintendent of Police in Hassan District, Dy. Commissioner of Police, (L&O) East in Bangalore City, Dy. Commissioner of Police, Traffic East Division in Bangalore City, Director (Security & Vigilance), Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) in Bangalore, Director (Personnel & Environment), KSRTC. in Bangalore, Administrator, Karnataka State Board of Wakfs in Bangalore, Dy Inspector General of Police, Headquarters-I in Bangalore, Inspector General of Police, Administration in Bangalore and currently he is serving as Addl. Commissioner of Police, Traffic in Bangalore City.

His diligence won him several awards and brought many laurels to his kitty.

1. Rotary Vocational Excellence Award 2006
2. I.R.T.E Prince Michael International Road Safety Award 2006.
3. Republic Day Police Medal for Meritorious Services, 2009.
4. National Award for e-Governance, 2009-10 for exemplary usage of ICT by PSUs by the Dept. of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances., Government of India
5. Award for Excellence by Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India, 2011.
6. Golden Peacock Award for Innovative Products/Services, 2011.
7. Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award, 2012.

His contribution to the Public and Police force shows the intensity and the quality of his work.

Established "AASARE" Help Line for Aged at Udupi and Hassan district; established "SPANDANA" Help Line for Women at Udupi and Hassan district; established "MAKKALA SAHAYAVANI" at Udupi District; established "Garuda" Police Patrol at Mysore, Udupi and Hassan District, developed Special Action Force at Mysore, Udupi and Hassan District; introduced Simputers for Traffic Enforcement in Bangalore City; introduced One-Way systems on 122 Roads in Bangalore City based on Scientific study of traffic; local Area Traffic Management Committees were established to ensure greater participation of people in managing traffic; established Automation Enforcement Center in Bangalore City; launched "Safe Routes to School in Bangalore to ensure Safety of School Children, introduced "Auto Drivers Display Card" for 1 Lakh Auto Drivers in Bangalore City, introduced a new concept Local Area Traffic Manage-ment Plan in Bangalore City; Introduced Helmet rule and Seat belt rule in Bangalore City. He owns the pride of introducing one of the most innovative ideas in order to control the violation of traffic rules, Project 'Public Eye' - a citizen's participation in traffic enforcement.

Traffic management is one of the major problems that most of our developing countries like India are facing. It is astonishing to see traffic getting managed, in spite of 1000 vehicles getting added on roads every single day. Especially in a fast growing city like Bangalore when seen managed and made look normal like any other day, we can only imagine the amount of planning and efforts that the Traffic Police Department is putting in it. Considering the fact that technically they just started growing, they have definitely come a long way. We are not saying it. The statistics speaks for itself. Not that it is managed perfectly, but definitely to a large extent possible with limited technological implementation is worth an appreciation. Team IUeMag wanted to know how they could achieve this, the challenges that they are facing and things like that. So we visited Dr. M. A. Saleem (IPS, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Bangalore city). Let's take a look at the conversation that we had with him. How do you reach public? How do you make them aware of the existing facilities that they are availed with?

We have a good reach. We have the most interactive department. We have our traffic management centre in Ashokanagara, wherein we have two Radio Jockeys(RJ) sitting there. Any problem anywhere, any traffic related problem, any traffic jam we immediately attend ands take the required measures. Today people can reach us through various medium. They can send us SMS, they can get in touch through FB. We are active and alert everywhere. We have come up with various innovative ideas. We interact directly with public.

There are lot of accidents happening because of improper road services, sign boards and disrepair roads. Is it the responsibility of the Corporation or The Traffic Police Department?

It is totally the responsibility of the Corporation though, we notify them about that if seen. Sign boards and things come under our purview. We now have also taken the responsibility of marking humps.

What are the problems leading to traffic congestion in Indian cities?
  • Rising demand for travel due to increase in population and other activities
  • Concentration of land use in certain areas such as central business dis-tricts and office areas
  • Mixed nature of traffic
  • Inadequate facilities segregating slow traffic
  • Insufficient road space
  • Inadequate width of pedestrian sidewalks and their encroachment by hawkers
  • Inadequate facilities to meet the heavy demand for parking requirements
  • Lack of road sense and indiscipline on the part of road users
  • Ineffective enforcement measures
  • Inadequate funds to meet the increasing demand for essential improvements
  • Non-existence of a specific organisation with specialized personnel to deal with traffic problems
Bangalore city is one of the fastest growing cities of India. The vehicular population is increasing with the equal pace of increase in population. The vehicular population increased from 1.75 lakhs in 1985 to 42 lakhs in 2012. On an average 1000 vehicles are being added on each single day. The road accidents have depicted a decreasing trend when compared with the above statistics. By the end of the year 2012, 5502 accident cases have been reported and this figure is the least in the past 20 years. Apart from this, by the end of 2012, a total of 755 individuals were killed, which is the lease for the past 11 years. Bangalore Traffic Police have achieved this distinction by adopting several measures and people friendly programmes. Some of the new initiatives are listed below:

Suspension of Driving License of repeated offenders; Automation Enforcement; Implementation of Uniform Speed Limits; Effective campaigns; Lane Discipline Campaign; Ambulance Priority Campaign; Innovative Public Eye Campaign; Seat Belt Campaign; Campaign to remove tincted glasses; Auto Rickshaw Reforms; Road Safety Training for Professional Drivers; Road Safety Training for School bus / van drivers; Carrying of Excess children in Auto rickshaw; Zero Tolerance Roads; Removal of unscientific road humps and Effective Citizen Interaction.

In view of ensuring smooth traffic flow and to reduce the road accidents at Bangalore City level under the Chairmanship of Commissioner of Police, Bangalore City, Citizen's Traffic Forum was started, in this opportunity was provided to traffic experts, social welfare personnel and chosen general public, to air their views. To implement appropriate suggestions necessary measures were taken. On the same model every 3rd Saturday of the month in all 42 Traffic Police Stations, Police station level meetings involving general public were un-dertaken by the Police Inspectors between 11-30 and 01-30. In this regard, lot of appreciation from general public was forthcoming, suggestions made in these meetings were perused deeply and appropriate suggestions implemented brought in community policing aspects by Bangalore Traffic Police. You can find unique government department face book page with more than 57000 followers in 'Bangalore Traffic Police' face book page. Owing to the distinction of being the only Government department/organization Facebook page with highest followers.

Message to our readers:

Our life depends on the way we start our days. Psychologically traffic is one of the major reasons for the frustrations, anger and other negative emotions to emerge. I request the public to kindly consider leaving your respective homes at least 10 minutes earlier than required. This not just saves your mental energy but lives of many innocents.

Life is also like traffic at times it does get jammed. Patience is the answer to it. Everything falls in place when you think peacefully.

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Any facts, figures or references stated here are made by the author & don't reflect the endorsement of iU at all times unless otherwise drafted by official staff at iU. This article was first published here on April 2013.

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