Oriya actors as traffic police
A dashing young policewoman caught the eye of commuters yesterday outside traffic police station at AG Square.
Dressed as ACP Sagarika, the protagonist in her upcoming film, the cop in action was film star Archita.
The actress was attending the road safety awareness week celebration to drive home the importance of following traffic rules, but Archita’s presence almost led to a traffic jam!
Archita is one of the celebrities that Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police have roped in for the road safety awareness week campaign. Actors Sabyasachi Mishra and Akash Das Nayak, singer Goodly Rath and a bunch of television artistes also took part in the drive.
Police along with Ollywood actors launched a four-day awareness drive to sensitize people about traffic rules. Additional commissioner of police Santosh Bala inaugurated the campaign, coinciding with the ongoing road safety week.
Police laid stress on prevention of drunk driving, which is causing a number of accidents in the city. “Just as people like us seeing on screens, we hope that they listen to our appeals to abide by road rules for their own safety,” Archita said.
Students from various schools and colleges were visibly excited to see the actors and promised to follow traffic rules and inform their parents and elders about the positives of doing so.
Sources said a citizen traffic awareness committee had been formed that comprises representatives of automobile companies and petrol filling stations. The committee had joined the city police in organising the road safety week campaign that is held every year in the first week of January.
As many as 70 accidents, caused by drunk driving, were reported in the city last year. While five persons died in separate mishaps, scores were injured, sources said. The modern police control room receives not less than 30 complaints of drunken driving daily from distressed commuters.”To curb drunk driving, we have started zeroing on tipsy people near bars, liquor off shops and ‘dhabas’. Our intension is not to spoil their party, but to prevent them from taking the risk of driving in high spirit,” said DCP Nitinjeet Singh.
The road safety celebrations will continue till January 7, and the temporary traffic park will be there for around a month. A song on traffic awareness, which had been recorded by the students of DPS Kalinga to the tune of popular jingle Honey Bunny was played. A documentary film on road safety was also screened.
Sand art installation showing Lord Ganesh urging people to wear helmets while driving was also on show along with photos and news clippings on road safety.
