Traffic violations: Student Police deployed

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Traffic rule violators, beware! Not only of the cops, but also of the student police. Those who think that obeying traffic rules is not mandatory would from now on be caught by the student police also. As part of ‘Subhayatra’, a statewide road safety awareness campaign, student police cadets would be deployed at major traffic centres in the city. The student police have started assuming charge from Tuesday at major traffic spots like East Fort, Pattom, Thampanoor, Model School Junction, Kazhakkoottam Bypass Toll Junction and Karamana.“Fifty students would be deployed for the morning duty and the same number for evening duty. We have selected 400 students, but as it is vacation time, only 200 students are present now. At a given time, we will deploy up to 100 students,” said Assistant Commissioner K A Byju, district nodal officer of the Student Police Cadet Project (SPCP).The student police have been engaged in the task of sensitising the traffic rule violators, other than controlling traffic. They will administer oath to those who ride without helmet and those who drive without wearing a seat belt about the need for obeying traffic rules."We hope that children can make a lasting impact on people than the police. Their advice and sensitisation could not be forgotten easily. It has been proved from the success of other road safety awareness programme using the student police cadets,” said Byju.Pamphlets describing the need for obeying the rules are also being distributed by the student police. Also, the student police note down the mobile number of traffic rule violators to get a feedback from them, which would enable the cops to know the impact of the programme.Meanwhile, the district-level inauguration of ‘Subhayatra’ was held at Kanakakkunnu on Tuesday. As a part of this, K Muraleedharan MLA flagged off a march-past from Kanakakkunnu to Martyrs’s Column at Palayam. ‘Subhayatra’ will conclude on April 26.