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New office timings reducing traffic chaos in Mohali: Study
As per the study, the different office hours for government and private offices resulted in a significant reduction of traffic congestion on the Airport Road on the first day itself
Aimed at electricity conservation, the Punjab government’s switch to the 7.30 am-to-2 pm office timings has led to reduction in traffic chaos on the busy Airport Road in Mohali, a report by the Punjab Road Safety and Traffic Research Centre has found.
The report, prepared after analysing travel time, fuel consumption and traffic congestion, was tabled before AS Rai, ADGP (Traffic), on Wednesday, a day after the new timings kicked in across the state.
As per the study, the different office hours for government and private offices had resulted in a significant reduction of traffic congestion on the Airport Road on the first day itself.
The study, which used “Tom-Tom Maps” to analyse the 18-km Airport Road, found that the average delays during peak hours were reduced from 30-40 minutes to just 5-6 minutes. This further helped reduce consumption of fuel, thereby saving an estimated ₹6.75 lakh daily by directly saving 7,500 litres of fuel.
The study found that during peak hours, around 7,000 vehicles crossed the Airport Road in one hour, with 25% of these being two-wheelers, 64% four-wheelers, and the remaining 11% being trucks, buses, light commercial vehicles, tractors, multi-axles, and others.
Based on conservative estimates, the additional delay of 25 minutes for these vehicles during five hours would have consumed 7,500 litres of fuel per day.
However, with the reduction in congestion, this fuel consumption has been reduced, resulting in cost savings and a cleaner environment.
Appreciating the initiative, ADGP Rai said the reduction in traffic chaos will also have additional benefits, such as less travel time and increased productivity in a less stressful work environment.
He said in addition to cost savings, reduction in congestion was also beneficial for the environment, as it led to a corresponding reduction in the emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants.
Dr Navdeep Asija, director, Punjab Road Safety and Traffic Research Centre, while the immediate results were encouraging, they were looking forward to the long-term impact as well.
He added that the estimates of fuel saving were based upon the vehicle operating cost for different vehicles made available by the Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi, and the Indian Roads Congress.
18 more latecomers get notices on Day 2
Mohali A day after issuing warning notices to as many as 20 employees at the District Administrative Complex in Mohali for arriving late to work after the switch to the new office timings, the administration continued its inspections on Wednesday and issued 18 more notices to the latecomers.
Confirming the development, additional deputy commissioner Amaninder Kaur Brar said the latecomers were from different departments. She said the surprise checks will continue to be maintain punctuality among government employees.
In a record of sorts, the sub-registrar, Amandeep Chawla, registered the first land registry at the District Administrative Complex at sharp 7.30 am on Wednesday, much to the delight of the applicant.
Earlier on Tuesday, applicants visiting the tehsildar office faced a harrowing time as the stamp paper vendors and deed writers did not arrive until after 9 am despite the change in office schedule.
This led to delays and hampered the functioning of the tehsildar office.
“Written orders were issued by deputy commissioner Aashika Jain, asking stamp vendors to open their stalls at 7.30 am. Now, the work has been streamlined. On Wednesday, we readied the first land registry at 7.30 am,” said ADC Brar. The summer schedule will continue till July 15.
