The force that keeps the city moving

The life of a traffic policeman is hardly ever noticed. They are part of our everyday life but hidden behind their more than valuable duty and often the target of our frustrations.
And not everybody knows that ‘duty’ for a traffic cop means waking up in spite of wanting to sleep a little longer, standing still even when longing for a little rest, keeping one’s cool even when angry, and sacrificing family time for the greater good of the public.
It surely takes a big dose of passion and dedication to be in such a profession for over 30 years. Lorhu Rhuo, who joined Nagaland Police in 1981 as a Constable, is testimony to this overwhelming social service. He has seen the growth of vehicles from a handful of 2-3 buses and few ambassador cars that ran as taxis in the early eighties to thousands of assorted vehicles crowding the narrow streets of Kohima today.

He recalls the remarkable increase in traffic during 1989-90 in the State capital when the pinch of parking and other challenges started to surface. But he has survived the nonchalant attitude of many a reckless driver, and though at times he felt disappointed with people who did not mind breaking traffic rules, he has pressed on in the service of the people.
After two decades of serving as a constable, he was promoted to THC, which stands for ‘Town Head Constable’. The stretch from TCP Gate to Razhü Point, the busiest street in Kohima, is a much too familiar environment for him even as he monitors the movement of vehicles along this route. The challenge, he says, has grown tremendously with the increase in vehicles, which obviously slows down movement and results in jamming, honking, waiting and chaos.
When asked what, in his opinion, would help ease the traffic, he says the efficient use of school buses would definitely be one solution as he goes on to point out that the trend in Kohima is one child carried by one vehicle, which means 50 children is equal to 50 vehicles. And, of course, there are the large numbers of government employees with the mandatory individual cars. The rush hour is clearly school, office and shopping hours every working day.
Lorhu has been in the field for as long as he can remember. He was promoted to Assistant Sub Inspector, or ASI in short, last May. Prior to that, in 2003, he was posted at Mon for a short period. The experience, he recalls, is incomparable as we all know Kohima Traffic is no match to other towns.
He was called back to the State capital for obvious reasons, he, being one of the most experienced in the job. But what could be so fascinating about the life of a traffic cop who starts work at 8 am in the morning, which means his day begins two hours before that, and whose day never ends before 6 pm?
Challenging still, he never gets an off day. It takes courage to be in a job where one has to work the hardest when the whole world is off holidaying in a festive mood. But this is nothing new to him anymore even as two other colleagues, THC V Sema and ASI Khenenlo Rengma, join in the conversation.
“Holidays are rare,” they said. I learnt that they are entitled to a 15-day holiday once a year. “But even that is hard to come by,” one of them longingly says.
Indeed, it takes enormous courage to be in uniform when the whole world is celebrating. Take Christmas Day, Good Friday or Easter Sunday for instance - they are at their busiest best during such holidays, besides weddings and other festivals – in fact, all the merrymaking days.
Working overtime is also something of a routine for them because you never know when duty will call when you are in such a profession. It’s disheartening to learn that accidents happen more or less on a daily basis. While many are fortunately minor ones, the three of them agree that the causes of these increasing road accidents are mostly because of drunken driving, over-speeding, underage and reckless driving.
It was also learnt that the majority of these accidents take place at night and often on the New Secretariat Road, the best and the widest road in town.
But the traffic policemen continue to do their jobs silently. And most of them also agree that ASI Lorhu Rhuo is among the names that stand out when it comes to keeping the traffic fluid. Simple in nature and pleasantly smiling, he is a man of few words, but he and his colleagues in this rarely acknowledged force make our lives easier everyday with their dedication and personal sacrifices.