KATHMANDU: On Monday morning around 9:45 AM, a Nepal Yatayat bus blatantly sped through the wrong lane at New Baneshwar. The driver aggressively pushed into traffic, causing immediate panic among drivers of smaller vehicles in the adjacent lane.

Two traffic police officers at the New Baneshwar traffic post had a clear view of the violation. Yet, far from issuing a citation or taking action against the bus, they neglected even to use their whistle to caution the driver.

In the main intersections across the three districts of the Kathmandu Valley, buses are often seen blocking the road and stopping for long periods while waiting for passengers. Traffic police are present, but they do not appear as active as before.

The kind of bullying demonstrated by Nepal Yatayat in New Baneshwor is seen frequently on the roads of Kathmandu. Buses speed, constantly honking to frighten and chase away smaller vehicles ahead; people ride motorcycles without helmets; three people ride on one motorcycle; and vehicles drive in the wrong lane at high speeds. Under normal circumstances, speeds exceeding 50 kilometers per hour are considered a violation of the Valley’s road rules. However, traffic police have not been able to focus on controlling high speeds lately.

In the view of former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Keshav Adhikari, who worked at the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Division itself, traffic police do not appear as active as they were before. He specifically sees a low level of activity after the Gen Z protest on September 8 and 9. “It’s not enough for traffic police to simply be on the road; they must have resources. When personnel without resources are deployed on the road, traffic management is naturally ineffective,” he says. “Traffic Police currently look resource-deprived. I have spoken directly on the road with officers I worked with while I was at the division; they are resourceless as well as without equipment.”

During the Gen Z protest, traffic police were unable to save their equipment and resources from vandalism and arson. Traffic infrastructure on the roads was damaged. There are currently no designated islands for traffic police to operate from. Furthermore, the self-confidence of traffic police is low due to the arson at police offices and having been subjected to assault and hooliganism by the protestors.

Taking advantage of this situation, those who openly cause chaos on the roads are getting away with it.

Spokesperson for the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Division, Superintendent of Police (SP) Naresh Raj Subedi, says, “It’s not just the islands that were destroyed; our offices were burned. The Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office has been reduced to rubble.”

There were 53 traffic islands in the Kathmandu Valley. All of them were vandalized and destroyed during the protest. Currently, traffic police are standing in the middle of the road to perform their duty. “There are complaints that traffic management is weak and police aren’t visible,” Subedi says. “When police worked from the islands, they were visible from afar, but they are not visible when standing on the road. Traffic management is not as efficient as before due to a lack of resources. We are making gradual improvements.”

Spokesperson for the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Division, Superintendent of Police Naresh Raj Subedi. Photo: Khila Nath Dhakal/Nepal News

On September 9, protestors targeted the Nepal Police the most. Not only were police uniforms looted, but officers were also attacked.

According to SP Subedi, the strength of the traffic police working in the Kathmandu Valley is 1,651. There are 78 traffic units in the Valley, of which 37 were burned during the protest. 21 were partially damaged.

The Valley Traffic Police Office, which coordinates all these units, was completely destroyed in the protest. The office is now uninhabitable. The chief and deputy chief of the Traffic Police stayed in tents for a month. Currently, the chief and deputy chief have moved to the Metro Traffic Building.

Currently, the Traffic Police lack the technology to monitor vehicles on the road and track those violating rules. Activities at intersections across the Kathmandu Valley were previously monitored via CCTV, and police were deployed accordingly. The ‘Control Room’ of the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police, which oversaw this, has been burned down. Data on how many CCTV cameras were smashed across the Valley is still unavailable. Automatic Number Plate Recognition equipment was installed in three locations—Dhobighat, Koteshwor, and Balkhu—to monitor vehicles and fine those speeding; these are currently still operational. These devices can clearly capture photos/videos of vehicles and number plates.

How many pieces of security equipment were looted from the Traffic Police?

During the Gen Z protest, protestors smashed most of the CCTV and traffic lights in the Valley. According to SP Subedi, out of 72 traffic lights installed, protestors broke 63. Of these, 27 lights are now operational after 18 were repaired.

The Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police had 690 magic lights. All of them disappeared during the protest. In the dark, traffic police used to check vehicles with the help of magic lights. Due to their absence, traffic management in the evening and at night has become difficult.

At least 29 surveillance cameras belonging to the Traffic Police were looted during the protest. Police used to capture scenes from a distance with such cameras to bring rule-violating vehicles to justice. Some 209 body cameras, worn on the chest for vehicle monitoring, were looted. “Police are deployed without such important equipment; we are working to improve the situation where work is not as effective as before, even with deployment everywhere,” says Subedi.

Metro FM’s office building, where the chief and deputy chief of the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police have moved in. Photo: Khila Nath Dhakal/Nepal News

In the evening-night hours and in emergencies, Traffic Police conducted DUI (Driving Under the Influence) and DWI (Driving While Intoxicated or Impaired) checks. There were 201 breathalyzers before the protest, and now there are only 27 of them remaining; all the others were looted by protestors. Following this, DUI and DWI checks have been affected.

There were 15 devices for reading smart cards. All of them were looted during the protest, affecting daily work. Traffic police used wheel locks to regulate parking. Currently, there is not a single wheel lock. “When the office burned, the records of these items were also destroyed. A committee has been formed to take inventory of the missing equipment, and a conclusion will be reached after its report,” says SP Subedi.

At least 93 motorcycles belonging to the police at the Traffic Police Office were destroyed. Some 340 vehicles, including those of service seekers and police, stored at the Traffic Division, were burned, and 52 have gone missing, and around 16 cars were burned.

According to Subedi, some vehicles have been provided to the Traffic Police, which has made it slightly easier for them to go out for work now.

Over 80,000 documents of service seekers destroyed

According to the Chief of Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Nawaraj Adhikari, vehicle drivers’ documents were stored in 39 locations in the Kathmandu Valley. During the protest, the records in 24 of these locations were burned in the arson, destroying 80,833 documents of service seekers. Only 26,000 documents were saved.

The Traffic Police have opened an online form for the missing documents. After filling the form online and verification, the Traffic Police have started recommending the documents to the Department of Transport Management. Traffic awareness classes, which were held in the office for road rule violators, have also completely stopped now. With the awareness room burned down by protestors, a critical part of traffic management is blocked. Traffic programs, including driver training, mechanical inspection, and community awareness, are also blocked.

SSP Adhikari says coordination is underway with higher authorities to secure resources and that the difficulties caused by the damage from the protest are being gradually resolved. He says, “Road discipline has preserved our civilization and culture. If traffic police are not deployed even for a moment now, the daily lives of people will be affected. Therefore, the profession of those who serve the citizens must be respected.” He further adds that the confidence of the police is low due to incidents of assault and mistreatment of traffic police seen in some places.

To restore discipline on the roads of the Kathmandu Valley, the federal capital, it is now important not only to provide equipment but also to boost the self-confidence of the police. According to former DIG Adhikari, confidence is the core issue for solving the problem. “Unless the high-level police go out into the field, the lower-level police do not feel a sense of security and self-confidence,” he says. “When police see their seniors standing on the road themselves, they gain the confidence. I have occasionally seen senior officers standing on the road and doing duty, and it is necessary to continue this.”

He suggests that to boost the self-confidence, traffic police chiefs could go to the mess and eat meals with lower-level staff and even sleep with them in the barracks.