Traffic wardens
When Odette Katrak returned to India from the UK, she was appalled by the indiscipline on the roads of Gurgaon. Not the kind to give up easily, Ms Katrak decided to do something about it and today champions the cause of road safety as an activist, writer as well as Road Safety Officer with the Gurgaon Traffic Police. For the last four years, she has been working in different ways towards changing behaviour and safety levels on Gurgaon’s roads, along with other like-minded volunteers. Her articles in Gurgaon’s newspapers on road safety are incisive and aimed at hitting the conscience of Gurgaon’s many educated drivers who blatantly break traffic rules.
She has interacted with no less than 5000 people on the roads, personally appealing to them to adhere to traffic rules, and trained over 2000 people from schools, colleges, corporates, to become agents of change and spread the message for better road manners and safety. She is also involved in training drivers of school buses and BPO cabs on the need to strictly follow rules and save precious lives. She has designed pamphlets, stickers and banners to promote adherence to traffic rules.
One of the key programs she has spear-headed was ‘Light-a-Cycle’ - the reflector tape initiative which made over 2500 cyclists safer on Gurgaon’s roads. These cycles lacking reflectors were almost invisible on dark roads, and were made safer by applying retro-reflective tape (strips in various colours in pre-assigned spots to ensure visibility) as a social initiative involving many citizens.
Here are some photographs of the initiatives taken by this road safety activist and her volunteers.