How Anjad deals with rush hour

Sharjah: It was 5 in the morning and the major roads and arteries of Sharjah were just waking up to the roar of the traffic. A couple of police patrols in blue and white sport utility vehicles were seen making their way at street corners, junctions and exit points.

We arrived just in time at the Sharjah Anjad headquarters where the Anjad policemen were seen getting ready to check on errant motorists and set free roads choked with traffic congestion. They seemed to be in high spirits. We were welcomed by Abdullah Rashad, a policeman, looking smart in his ironed blue uniform.

He asked us the purpose of our visit. The videographer with us informed him that we were from Gulf News and that we were there to spend the first shift in a police patrol vehicle on the road. Asking us to enter the building, he went back to attend to his morning work schedule.

We sat in the visiting room hoping that we had secured all the necessary permission required to carry out the assignment. Just then Rashad came in and in a polite voice offered us steaming black tea in white foam cups and date cookies. "Please have some tea and cookies before you hit the road. It will be a long day. By the way, you will be accompanying my boss Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Bin Darwish, director of Anjad patrol," he said and walked back outside the building to attend to a mobile call.

It was nearly half past six when Lt Col Bin Darwish arrived in his snazzy olive green car. We straight away got down to business. All three of us squeezed into the back seat and him on the passenger seat in the front, we hit the roads of Sharjah. The time was 6.45am and the first stop we made was at the Cultural Square Roundabout from where all roads lead to Dubai, Sharjah University City and the Eastern Region.

This particular roundabout has recently gone through a massive renovation. The roads looked wider but that did not seem to have eased the traffic congestion. We parked our vehicle close to one of the five exist points.

"As you can see here we place our patrols at the rush points. We have more than 70 patrol cars on the street in each shift. We have a total of 550 rush points in Sharjah that cannot be left unattended. Prior to the start of every academic term, a study is conducted on the existing and new rush points. But on the first day of school, there's usually a problem because parents are not aware what route should they take to drop their children off to school in the least possible time period.

Schools open

"Another important point that we have observed are the school bus drivers who keep changing their bus routes and as a result roads get clogged on the first day of school year," he said.

Keeping a close watch on the incoming traffic and his patrolmen at each exit point, Lt Col Bin Darwish said that the rush hour is between 6am and 8am.

He said: "Majority of the traffic on the roads are from motorists from Umm Al Quwain and Ajman, as they have to cross Sharjah to go on their way to Dubai and other Western areas."

Our presence at the roundabout along with him and other policemen generated quite a curiosity among motorists who were waiting at the traffic lights.

Signalling motorists to drive on once the traffic signal turned green, Lt Col Bin Darwish continued: "Because of the [global] economic downturn, many residents of Dubai have now shifted their homes to Sharjah and Ajman. Some of the intensely congested areas in the morning hours are Al Taawun Road, Emirates Road and Al Ittihad Road."

Opting to move to other exit points, we got into the Anjad car and drove towards Maysaloon. A couple of heavily tinted cars passed us from the adjoining lanes and Lt Col Bin Darwish was quick to point out that heavy tinting is strictly prohibited. Instructing the driver to trail a car with heavy tint on it he said: "We impose Dh500 as penalty in addition to confiscating the vehicle."

As we neared to the heavily tinted car, it was signalled to pull over at a curb. Lt Col Bin Darwish asked the motorist to show her licence and registration cards and explained to her on the dangers of driving a heavily tinted vehicle. He said: "I just gave her a warning and made her aware of the tinting limits."

Lt Col Bin Darwish then went on to explain that the job of the Anjad patrol is not restricted to manning the traffic but extends to lending cooperation to other departments of the police and customs. "We cater to all kind of emergencies and also events where the royal family is involved," he explained.

With a hint of pride in his voice, Lt Col Bin Darwish said: "We are the first at the scene to cordon off the area and then notify the necessary authorities on the ground realities. We give out an average of 500 traffic fines a day.

"We occasionally apply a soft approach with the motorist but if we set to be strict we could easily give out 2,000 fines a day. "There are up to 400 accidents on a daily basis, but 90 per cent of them are minor ones. There are also around 20 cases a day of hit and run cases."

We were on the road for almost five hours and it was time to return to the headquarters. The roads seemed to be breathing much easier.

Back in his office, Lt Col Bin Darwish narrated an incident he came across while he was working in the ranks as a simple Anjad patrolman on the road.

"I have completed 18 years in Anjad, I started as a junior officer and today I am the head. Once an old man crashed his car into another. All our efforts to get him out of the car failed. He just sat on the driver's seat clutching a brown bag close to his chest. All he kept saying was "I do not want to leave." I then enquired with him as to what was in it. "A million dirhams," he said. He had got that money by selling a plot of land. He did not want to part with his money."