Ceylon Today Editorial

Police traffic plan drives people mad

14th October 2015 

 

Author H. P. Lovecraft once wrote, "The most merciful thing in the world is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." However, we doubt that the general public would be merciful if they ever get their hands on whoever introduced the unsuccessful Traffic Master Plan that was initiated in Colombo and suburb roads last Monday (12).

Police experimented last Saturday (10) and Sunday (11) a new traffic plan which intended to resolve the matters of heavy traffic along Sri Jayewardenepura Road, from the Parliament Roundabout and Battaramulla towards Colombo. Both days being holidays and weekends, the police only experienced little or less traffic. However, when the traffic plan was officially put into action last Monday, the traffic jams turned acute and uncontrollable.

The traffic jams continue to cause a heavy inconvenience to the general public, school children and office workers who often find themselves stranded inside public transportation buses and private vehicles, while the deadline where they have to report to work or school could not be met. This is the third day of this traffic madness.

It is surprising that the Deputy Inspector General of Traffic Police Amarasiri Senaratne claimed that this particular traffic plan was a success when the truth and the reality are in fact vastly different from his professional observations.
The roads where this 'magnificent traffic plan' was implemented were made one way from Galle Road to the Colpetty Junction to the Galle Face Green during the peak of LTTE terrorism in order to protect Temple Trees where the then President resided. And, now it is the official residence of the Prime Minister, but the Premier stays at his private residence. The front and main entrance of the Temple Trees was cordoned off while the rear entrance via the R. A. de Mel Mawatha, or more commonly known as the Duplication Road, was used by the then President and the current Prime Minister for traversing. The Rajapaksa Government extended the one way traffic beyond Bambalapitiya to Savoy Cinema during their tenure.

Terrorism was militarily crushed in 2009, six years ago, and right now there is no apparent or immediate threat to the life of any politician of this country. The one way vehicular traffic on the Galle Road, not only affected office workers, but also commercial establishments along that road stretch which was a direct and massive blow to the business community in the heart of Colombo.

The government should take measures to reduce the influx of vehicles that are imported into the country rather than just shutting roads on the pretext of easing traffic congestion that causes great inconvenience to the ordinary working class which is the majority of the country. Shutting down roads and making traffic plans is like putting a band aid on a patient who has cancer.

Several commuters have reported that the traffic congestion, which was observed in the Maharagama area, prior to the Master Traffic Plan, had lessened but had created congestion in several other areas such as Kirulapona, Thimbirigasyaya and Thunmulla. Deputy Inspector General Senaratne had said due to the obvious 'massive success' of the traffic plan, an adequate number of police personnel will be deployed to attend to any issues that may arise. This observation alone shows us how one man who sits in front of a computer, hell bent on a mission to warm up his chair, has created a master traffic plan to relieve traffic congestion without bothering to go there and observe the situation. Without shutting down roads, alternative methods such as improving public transportation methods or reducing the importation of vehicles can be used to address this matter without being a collective pain in the nether regions of the public.

During the days of the former Deputy Inspector General of Police (Traffic), Camillus Abeygunawardene, he himself drove along all the roads during peak hours to plan out measures to ease the traffic congestion, but he never shut roads to cause hindrance to the public. Instead, he diverted certain categories of vehicles into roads like R. A. de Mel Mawatha to ease the traffic congestion along the Galle Road up to Wellawatte during peak hours.

Whether the police is acting on its own accord when deciding to introduce and implement traffic plans that closed roads to ease traffic we are yet not sure. However, the undeniable truth is that by such action, the police are driving the general public up on walls with madness. The people are frequently late to their schools, appointments and work as a result of this impractical methods practiced by the police.

We invite the Deputy Inspector General of Traffic Police, Amarasiri Senaratne to travel along the stretch from Rajagiriya to Borella, via Cotta Road during the peak hours, which is currently one way according to the traffic plan, to gain a first-hand experience of the reality behind his own exercise. Observe and understand the problem, dear Mr. Deputy Inspector General. Then initiate a plan of action.