Movement against accidents. This was the slogan which Bidhannagar Traffic Police raised on Monday at the Nicco Park Big Lawn where students of 40 schools and six special institutions dipped brush in paint or put pastel to paper. In an hour, they were to produce a work of art highlighting traffic safety. And if the plans of the Bidhannagar commissionerate bear fruit, some of the entries would help raise awareness about traffic rules. Some of the students might even be manning traffic on the streets at a future date.

The organisers, Cherry Tree, put the count at 375 from the schools and 110 from the special institutions. “I am delighted that so many children have come. The next step is to have safety patrol teams from schools drawing students from the senior classes so they can volunteer for a couple of hours to regulate traffic. They can give suggestions for improvement. We don’t have too much manpower so we have to involve the community. Traffic is one area where a lot can be done with schools,” police commissioner Jawed Shamim said. 

“People talk on the phone while crossing the road and don’t look at the traffic lights. We need to spread awareness against this,” said Pallavi Nangalia, a 16-year-old from North Point Senior Secondary Boarding School, Teghoria, as her schoolmates Shweta Sharma and Sayantani Gorai nodded in agreement.

Not every participant was so clued in about the subject. Suvojit Das, afflicted with Down’s Syndrome, had drawn a red apple and a yellow banana. He was one of 27 children from AE Block’s Uttarayan Centre for the Mentally Challenged. “We teach the older ones about traffic rules as part of their vocational training. The smaller ones have come to have fun,” said teacher Shampa Srinivasan. 

There was ample opportunity to have fun. The children were treated to a magic show and then a five-minute video film that taught the dos and don’ts for road safety laced with a dash of humour. The film was created by the NSHM Institute of Media and Design. Afterwards, they were to enjoy the rides at Nicco Park.

Meanwhile, judges Arun Chakraborty of Rekha Chitram and Somnil Saha, who runs a design studio in HA Block, got busy evaluating the entries. Hariyana Vidya Mandir student Ankit Dey’s colour conception and shading bowled over Chakraborty. The police commissioner himself loved Samadrita Ghosh’s drawing with the slogan “If we can tie up for looks, then why not for life?” The Class XII girl from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan would be one of the four individual winners. “We did not expect to win as the competition was so strong,” said Asmita Sikdar, who was part of an ecstatic team of eight from Bidhannagar Government High School in BD Block, which was one of the four schools chosen for felicitation. “We will use the selected drawings to create a collage for use as outdoor display material on road safety awareness,” said deputy commissioner, traffic, Shivani Tewari. Two policemen were also felicitated for outstanding service (see box).

MERIT LIST

Top schools 

Uttarayan Centre for the Mentally Challenged 
Lake Town Government Sponsored Girls High School
Bidhannagar Government High School (BD Block)
Calcutta Airport English High School

Top students

Ankit Dey, Class X, Hariyana Vidya Mandir
Samadrita Ghosh, Class XII, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Diptayan Mondal, Class IX, Chittaranjan Colony Hindu Vidyapith
Ayesha Bhutalia, Uttarayan Centre for the Mentally Challenged 

Top cops

Swapan Roy, officer-in-charge, traffic, airport
Taragata Basu, constable, Bidhannagar Traffic Guard