New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea seeking to ensure the rotational basis of work location for traffic policemen in order to effectively tackle their health issues due to rising pollution. The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud dismissed the PIL filed by Sanjay Kulshrestha, a doctor, who also sought to ensure periodic medical check-up and treatment for pollution-related diseases encountered by the traffic policemen. 

The plea said that traffic policemen should be deputed on rotational basis in congested areas and non-congested areas. "What kind of prayer is this? Do you want the Supreme Court to monitor the duty roster of traffic police? Heard. Dismissed," the bench said. The petition had sought direction to the Centre seeking relief to traffic policemen for better management of their severe health problems due to heavy vehicular pollution on Indian roads. 

"Before coming to the court, petitioner tried to know through RTI about extra facilities or allowances that state governments are providing to traffic policemen for this occupational hazards and it confirmed that there are no such provisions by most of the state governments," the plea said. The plea claimed that air pollution has become a big occupational hazard for traffic policemen in India and said that within five to six years, these policemen develop pollution-induced diseases. 

"This vehicular pollution mainly affects their respiratory system, however, there is no part or system in the body which is immune to it," the plea said. The petitioner, who is also a consultant paediatric surgeon, claimed that continuous exposure of traffic policemen to vehicular exhaust could even induce adverse reproductive outcome. "There is a significant increase in neonatal deaths and abortions in the wives of traffic policemen and a decrease in live births has been observed," the plea submitted.