January 4 would have been any other day in the life of a traffic police officer in what has come to be known as “the world’s most polluted city”. Except it was an “even day”, and Harpal, Karamveer and Saurabh’s duties had multiplied. The three are traffic police officers stationed at the IIT flyover junction in New Delhi, which began its tryst with the Aam Aadmi Party government’s odd-even plan on January 1. Four-wheelers with odd number plates were to be “challaned’’, albeit those exempted from the scheme.

Harpal, Karamveer and Saurabh have been on duty since 8 in the morning and say their day would end at around 10 in the night. Harpal was going about his job under the mild winter sun, post-lunch when I ask him about his thoughts on the odd-even plan. He believes the policy has so far been a commendable success but it was too early to celebrate since schools had not yet reopened. He says there were few defaulters — he had just challaned two vehicles for violating the odd-even policy. He also says a majority of the vehicles challaned were registered outside Delhi.

When asked what excuse the defaulters were giving, he says it was largely owing to ignorance. The specific details of the order had not reached the public in other states. Many were not aware that this order applied to cars with number plates from outside Delhi.

The IIT flyover junction is around 2 km away from South Delhi’s posh Sarvodaya Enclave. On IndiaSpends’ #breathe website, the area around Sarvodaya showed alarming levels of pollution. The Air Quality Index is 501 — 1 point above the maximum “severe’’ category, which ranges from 401-500.

In effect, Harpal, Karamveer and Saurabh’s jobs expose them to some serious health hazards. None of them, however, were wearing masks. The Supreme Court had directed the Centre to supply breathing masks to traffic cops in December 2015. But there was one technicality – traffic cops have to whistle routinely to stop and direct cars, which makes it impractical for them to wear the mask.

Even so, Harpal tells me the masks they were provided about a month ago are already unusable. “If one wore it in the morning, by the evening, the mask becomes completely black,” he says, adding that procuring the mask is a bureaucratic battle no one wants to take on. Saurabh adds that many traffic police officers chose not to wear it since it was simply uncomfortable.

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It’s close to sunset and the IIT junction is peopled with balloon sellers who have set up shop on the footpath with the hope of making money every time the traffic light turns red. A family of seven, the elders were busy inflating the balloons, while the kids were trying to sell them.

Contrary to what most street hawkers would say about traffic cops, they had great things to say about Harpal, Saurabh and Karamveer, stating that they were on duty throughout the day.

Meanwhile, Harpal and Saurabh were inspecting the number plates of vehicles passing by. They tell me that they haven’t come across any other defaulters through the day. By now, two more cops had joined them from the traffic light at the Hauz Khas Metro Station, which is half a kilometer away.

One of them makes his way to the petrol station across the road to use the toilet. I ask them if there were any toilet facilities provided to traffic police officers, especially after the highly publicised campaigns of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Swachh Delhi app. What do they do when there are no public toilets around?

One of the officers, who didn’t want to be named, jokingly says, “Yeh India hai sir, aapko pata nahin hai kya? [this is India, don’t you know?].” He tells me that when the cops answer nature’s call, they make it a point to hide from the public. “People don’t care about the vital and good work we do. All they remember is negative news about us. Seeing a traffic police officer take a leak in the public would be another opportunity for people to take a dig at us,” he says.

By 6, the rush-hour had begun and you can see the change in the cops’ body language. They all rushed to different corners of the road to direct traffic. Before going, Harpal remarks, “Bas ab no more checking, peak hours aa gaye [no more checking now, it’s peak hour].” I ask him why and he responded by just shaking his head. Another traffic police officer tells me that it’s not feasible to check number plates at peak hours since it disrupts the flow of traffic and could lead to severe jams. Peak time is when a defaulter could get away even if he has been noticed.

By the end of the day, on Monday, more than 1,000 challans had been issued as was reported later.

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The next day, an “odd” day, I visit the IIT junction again at around 1:00pm in the afternoon and was surprised to see only one traffic cop seated with a mask on. He refuses to identify himself. He tells me that he had bought the mask and paid from his own pocket. When I ask him if he has been provided with one by the government, he says he had heard that some masks were issued but none reached him.

I tell him how I was there the previous day and was surprised to see nobody wear a mask. He says it’s a personal choice. He tells me he wears it even when he’s on duty but tied it very loose around his ear so he could blow the whistle when it was required. He was also of the view that the mask was inconvenient but he wore it as he was very conscious of his health.

Another senior officer joins us after a while. He, too, does not wish to be named. They tell me the only challan they issued for the day was for “driving under influence” and that the odd-even policy had been a major success.

According to reports in the media, approximately 2,000 challans have been issued since January 1 and the violation fines may cross Rs 1 crore by January 15.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in radio and TV ads on the odd-even scheme speaks highly of “Dilli ke log” for making the scheme a success. By the end of next week, our op-ed pages and prime-time debates will possibly be filled with commentary on the success/failure of the odd-even plan. Rest assured Dilliwalahs will be congratulated for at least trying, while Harpal, Karamveer and Saurabh will be back amid the city smog and pollution working unnoticed and unsung. I’m guessing we won’t see anyone representing them on any panel.