This monsoon, traffic signals to keep Delhi on the go

Tuesday, July 27, 2010


The monsoons are here and there's reason to worry. As repair and carpeting work on the roads for the Commonwealth Games are being carried out, roads are blocked or narrowed for the time being. And with the rains here, many stretches will get water-logged and traffic lights will stop working, resulting in chaos.

Of the 730-odd traffic signals in the city, an average of 50 signals stop working due to water logging during monsoons.

While some of them are rectified within four hours, others take as long as four days. But it seems, the Delhi Traffic Police, has some plans for smoother signal maintenance.

"We are in the process of finalising the contract for signal repair and maintenance. The new contract would come with better terms and conditions, as well as infrastructure. In the next one month, every 50 traffic signals will have a team dedicated to repairing defective signals," Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Satyendra Garg told Newsline.

Till the late 1980s, the Transport department used to maintain all city traffic lights before the police took over from the department and outsourced the job — first to Keltron, a PSU — before CMS entered the field. Sources said that the contract would go again to Keltron.

But defective signals are not the only problem in the monsoons.

"Trees fall and vehicles break down. Every time it rains, the roads get water logged, making movement of traffic extremely slow. For instance, a 15-minute traffic jam at Dhaula Kuan leads to traffic pile-up till Noida," said Garg.

With the ongoing construction work for the Commonwealth Games, which involves road repairs at all important junctions, the decreased road width makes traffic movement difficult.

"Whenever the road width is lesser, there is bound to be traffic congestion. The traffic police has then to keep in mind the interests of both — the public and the ongoing work on roads." And when a road becomes absolutely unsafe for vehicular traffic, it has to be closed. This undoubtedly aggravated the problem, he added.

"The effect of rain and slow traffic movement has its effect on Delhiites. If a carriageway is blocked, the first thing a commuter does is take the first U-turn and drive on the wrong side of the opposite carriageway. This blocks the traffic on the other side as well," said Garg.

Original news source http://www.indianexpress.com/news/this-monsoon-traffic-signals-to-keep-delhi-on-the-go/652158/0