Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) C.V. Anand on Friday, 25 September lauded the state government's creation of the Telangana Traffic Management, Road and Rail Safety Bureau (TG-TMARS), saying the new body would work to reduce road accidents and fatalities across the state. The bureau was formally established on Thursday, 24 September, through a Government Order (GO), making it a specialised wing of the Telangana Police focused on traffic management, highway patrolling, road crash investigation, and railway safety.

What TG-TMARS Will Do

According to DGP Anand, the bureau's core objective is to standardise traffic enforcement, engineering, education, and emergency response across the entire state. It will also step up patrolling and security on all highways and the Outer Ring Road (ORR). The bureau will be led by an officer of the rank of Additional Director General of Police or Inspector General of Police, designated as TG-TMARS Director.

The body will operate through four wings: Traffic Management through enforcement and education; Road and Rail Safety; Administration; and Vigilance and Standards. Crucially, traffic wings of individual districts and Commissionerates will continue to function under their respective unit officers but will implement TG-TMARS directives for statewide policy uniformity — a move designed to end the fragmented command structure that the GO itself acknowledged as a gap.

The Scale of the Problem

Telangana's road safety crisis provides the urgency behind the reform. According to DGP Anand, approximately 8,000 people were killed in road accidents in the state last year alone. The state has a road network exceeding 32,000 km and a registered vehicular population of more than 1.8 crore, creating growing challenges of traffic congestion and road crashes. The GO noted that existing traffic wings across police Commissionerates and districts had been functioning without a common command for standards, technology, training, analytics or review.

Funding and Supreme Court Mandate

A Traffic Management Fund has been created in compliance with Supreme Court orders. Under this mechanism, 40 per cent of all compounding fines collected by the police will be credited into the fund, ringfencing revenue for road safety initiatives. This institutional funding model is intended to ensure sustained resourcing independent of annual budget allocations.

Part of a Broader Police Restructuring

TG-TMARS is part of a wider rationalisation of the Telangana Police following the near-end of the Maoist insurgency in the state. In July, DGP Anand announced the redeployment of 513 personnel from specialised units — including Greyhounds, OCTOPUS, and the SIB — to eight departments aligned with contemporary policing priorities. Of these, 224 personnel were allocated specifically to Traffic Management and Road Safety. The DGP noted that while Left-Wing Extremism and terrorism dominated policing challenges in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, the current landscape requires resources directed at drug trafficking, cybercrime, online betting, investment fraud, and road safety.

TG-TMARS will function under the overall supervision of the State Road Safety Council, chaired by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. DGP Anand thanked the Chief Minister for 'pushing this much needed reform.' Telangana Minorities Welfare Minister Mohammed Azharuddin also hailed the bureau's creation, citing it alongside HYDRAA, TG-SAFE, and the EAGLE Force as part of a broader push toward purpose-driven governance institutions in the state.

With the bureau now formally constituted, attention will turn to timelines for full operational deployment and measurable targets for accident reduction across Telangana's highway network.