Come in pool cars: Cops put signages in front of schools

kolkata: In a bid to reduce traffic congestion and curb air pollution in the city, Kolkata Police has put up notices in front of the schools urging guardians to avail pool cars for daily commute of their children to the schools.

The notices by Kolkata Traffic Police read: "It's Cool, Use Car Pool." This initiative comes after days of the police implementing no-parking zones in school areas during the school hours—7 am to 2 pm—as well as other regulations.

They banned parking at areas covering AJC Bose Road, Loudon Street, Rawdon Street and Park Street area. Apart from this, the parents were allowed to drop and pick their children from near the school gates at a fixed time.

The private cars have been asked to park away from the school premises and no vehicle will be allowed to wait at the drop and pick up zones.

The maximum time for pickups at important crossings will be 10 minutes. People will be fined for unnecessary honking. Similar changes were initiated at Diamond Harbour Road. The Thakurpukur traffic guard convinced the Public Works Department (PWD) officials to increase the width of the road by 2.5 feet on both sides. From this week, a separate parking area will also be allotted for the pool cars.

This initiative is to control the surge of traffic due to the rise of private vehicles, especially during the school hours.

Carpooling will help reduce the air pollution as each service will transport 14 students, resulting in reduction of 13 other vehicles from the streets.

According to reports, carpooling will lead to 35 per cent reduction in number of vehicles plying on city roads.

"It is a good sign that the police have taken initiative to promote car pools. If maintained, it will lead to reduction of pollution and traffic congestion," Sudip Dutta, secretary of the Pool Car Owners' Welfare Association said.

However, guardians are complaining that most pool car services have closed down due to the surge in petrol prices.

They alleged that some of the service providers have demanded one to four months worth of non-refundable advance as they anticipate the closing down of schools due to the rise in COVID-19 cases.