Master stroke: Traffic cops use derby match to spread message of safe riding

Kolkata: The city was under the grip of football fever with thousands of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal supporters heading towards Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan at Salt Lake to watch the derby match between the two football giants in Kolkata on Sunday.

The Kolkata Traffic Police has not let the opportunity go in using the event to create awareness among people to ensure that they follow traffic norms to avert road accidents.

This is for the first time that a derby match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal has come up as a subject for the city police to make people feel the necessity of following traffic norms.

In a social media post, Kolkata Traffic Police has uploaded a collage of two photographs. In one of the two photographs, a policeman is seen ensuring that the rider of a scooter uses helmet, while the other photograph is of a match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. In the photograph, Mohun Bagan defender Dhanachandra Singh is seen being chased by former East Bengal captain Sanju Pradhan, when the former is tackling the ball. Interestingly, niom mene path chala, bikel bela derby khela (follow traffic norms and enjoy derby in the evening) is written just below the photographs.

The tweet of Kolkata Traffic Police was liked and shared by many. Earlier, the police had used photographs of various moments, including those of Football World Cup, international cricket matches and evergreen Bengali movies, to create awareness among people on road safety measures.

Now, use of the photograph of a derby match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal for the same has been appreciated by many, as there are hardly any person in the state who is not aware of its craze. So, the use of the photograph will help to easily attract the attention of common people.

It may be mentioned that during every derby match, supporters of both the football clubs reach the stadium in buses and mini-trucks. At the same time, thousands of youths also reach Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on motorbikes. According to the experts, such initiatives made the football enthusiasts follow traffic norms to avert any accident while heading towards the stadium on Sunday.

Youths who reached the place on motorbikes, were clad in the jersey of their favourite club and were carrying flags of the clubs as well. "But it was interesting to note that they were also wearing helmets," said a police officer.