Citizens groups offer a helping hand to petrified traffic cops manning the lawless stretch under JJ flyover.Traffic constables beg their superiors not to post them here, pedestrians treat the entire road as a zebra crossing, and motorists become oblivious to red lights. The eternal maze of vehicles on the stretch that starts at Crawford Market and ends at JJ Hospital is every Mumbaikar’s worst nightmare.The stretch has three major signals and four junctions - Nagpada, JJ hospital, Bhendi Bazaar and Mohammed Ali Road. At any hour of the day, it is filled with vehicles moving in all directions, with pedestrians struggling to walk without being run over. Cars are haphazardly parked, while others are freely cutting lanes and honking incessantly. Sighting a traffic constable manning the area is rare, due to which motorists have simply given up stopping at signals.In a brave move, a group of citizens led by a local MLA and corporator recently met senior traffic officials and offered their help to set things right. In return, the traffic department handed them a list of the perils of being stationed at this stretch.One of the major problems in this area is the motorists’ immunity to traffic cops. “They never listen to us. We can’t even stop motorists from breaking signals. The question of stopping them for violations like not wearing helmets, seat belts or incessant honking does not even arise,” said a constable posted at JJ signal or Dr Allama Mohammad Iqbal Chowk.Another problem was law and order. “When you try and stop a biker for jumping a signal, a crowd gathers around us and we are forced to let go of him. How do you expect us to work?” asked a traffic cop posted at the Bhendi Bazaar junction, adding that most of the time, they are reduced to mere spectators of the chaos.Citizen groups however believe that the problem can tackled by increasing the number of constables posted in the area. “In the best case scenario, one can spot a maximum of two cops at a junction. While one struggles to regulate traffic, the other is seen chasing vehicles to impose fines. It is not the job of a single cop. This does not happen everywhere in the city. The same motorist would drive differently at Byculla or CST. It is only a matter of enforcing the law properly,” said Javed Juneja, a corporator from the area.“We recently met senior traffic officials and suggested that they conduct special drives or increase the number of constables per junction. Local NGOs and citizen groups would stand with them and help them nab offenders. No one will interfere. Once a few offenders are booked, others will think twice before breaking a traffic rule here,” said Juneja, adding that the traffic police had not acted on their suggestion.Sunil Kavalekar, senior police inspector for Pydhonie traffic division, agreed that a shortage of staff was one of the main problems. “We need more people to man these junctions. We have been doing our bit by keeping enough staff stationed there, but they too are able to do very little beyond a point.”