Reward for cops who braved rain to help residents

Day after the police took to the streets to keep the city on the move in the face of a deluge, police commissioner KK Rao announced cash rewards for 1,500 personnel, out of 2,500, for their exemplary work to ensure traffic didn’t go haywire during five hours of rain. The cash rewards were announced on the basis of feedback from commuters, residents and senior officials, as well as posts on the social media commending the men in uniform for keeping arterial roads clear for the movement of traffic.

As rain pounded the city for five hours on Tuesday morning, uprooting trees and bringing vehicles to a crawl, personnel from all police stations were asked to man arterial stretches and direct traffic. They were even seen opening sewers and pushing vehicles barefoot at different locations in the city.

The commissioner said he had recommended felicitation of 18 assistant commissioners of police (ACPs) to the director general for their ‘foresight and planning’ to prevent a repeat of the 20-hour long traffic nightmare in the light of overnight rain, dubbed the Gurujam, in 2016.

“Despite being injured while discharging their duties, they held their ground and ensured commuters reached their destinations safe. In some places, they were even seen pushing vehicles that had broken down. They went beyond their duty to rescue people stranded on waterlogged streets ,” Rao said.

Six police personnel fell into manholes during the operation to keep the streets clear and commuters safe, four were hit by the speeding vehicles at traffic signals near Iffco Chowk, Rajeev Chowk, Sheetla Mata Road and Sohna Road near Vatika crossing and another 22 were also injured, police said.