By Indira Aryal

Kathmandu, Mar. 21: The Metropolitan Traffic Police Office Division (MTPD) has started generating public awareness about the possible spread of Coronavirus in the Valley by displaying placards at different places of the city.
More than 200 traffic police were mobilised to display the placards reading preventive measures at 86 different places in Kathmandu Valley targeting the drivers and passengers of public vehicles. The placards read ‘Travel by wearing mask’, ‘Do not make crowds in public vehicles’ and ‘clean the vehicles’.
Senior Superintendent of Police Bhim Dhakal of MTPD said, “We are showing our solidarity with the government to prevent the risk of COVID-19.”
The initiative started from Friday. Dhakal said, adding that a few days earlier, some of the transport entrepreneurs were invited to the traffic office to discuss the preventive measures and the traffic police had asked them to clean their vehicles and ensure smooth movements of vehicles during emergency.
Dev Gurung of Surkhet district said that holding placards would be an effective measure because people could notice them faster. The effort initiated by traffic police was commendable and we should praise these kinds of activities, Gurung said.
SSP Dhakal said that traffic police should themselves remain safe from the virus and the Division had also given education about the disease and tools to protect them from the transmission as they are deployed in the public places.
Raju Pun Magar, a local from Anamnagar, Kathmandu, said, “We should fight against the pandemic united. The traffic police have also shown concerns towards the preventive measures and it is the best practice ever to spread knowledge to the public.”
Every organisation, agencies, public and private offices should join their hands to prevent the pandemic in the time of crisis, he said.
Holding placards would be an effective way to make people aware, said Ayumi Ohashi from Japan.
During this time, the people do not have patience to watch the hoarding boards, but the placards could draw their attention, Ayumi said.
SSP Dhakal said that all the other programmes were in the hold due to the pandemic but traffic police have been fully dedicated to creating awareness about the virus.