Even as two months have passed since the municipal corporation (MC) of Patiala had floated tenders for installation of smart traffic lights in areas under its jurisdiction, it is yet to implement the blueprint prepared for the traffic management plan.
The blueprint envisages construction of new parking lots near main commercial areas and removal of encroachments from market places. At least 160 high quality closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) will be installed at different locations across the Royal City, including market places, schools, parking lots, and other vulnerable locations.
Traffic lights located at Bupindra road, Nabha diversion, near Gurudwara Dukh Niwarn, Lahori Gate, Truck Union and near Cafe Coffee Day, 22 Number Phatak and near Nabha Chungi are lying dysfunctional since past few months.
These defunct traffic lights have become a headache for the resident while commuting on busy city roads. Absence of traffic personnel at these points add to the inconvenience of commuters.
According to residents, it becomes difficult to commute during peak hours and at night.
A senior officials said that the MC is working in tandem with the traffic police. They have called multiple meetings to finalise the blueprint of the project, which includes installation of smart traffic lights, close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and LED screens, but nothing has been done on the ground level.
{{/usCountry}}A senior officials said that the MC is working in tandem with the traffic police. They have called multiple meetings to finalise the blueprint of the project, which includes installation of smart traffic lights, close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and LED screens, but nothing has been done on the ground level.
{{/usCountry}}“We are yet to finalise the modalities for implementation of the project blueprint,” he said.
Meanwhile, mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu said that the implementation will take some more time. He added that the civic body has already floated tenders for installing new smart traffic lights on city roads and work orders will be issued soon.
“The present traffic light system has outlived itself and needs to be replaced with modern infrastructure. Therefore, the censor-based smart lights will be installed at 28 places,” he said.
He added that blinkers will also be fixed on roadsides to minimise road accidents.
The blueprint also involves setting up of large LED screens at six spots to help commuters take different link roads in case of traffic snarls, besides setting up of a hi-tech control room will also be set up to enable officials to run the system smoothly.
Year on, the Patiala MC’s proposal to utilise government land under the Optimum Utilisation of Vacant Government Land (OUVGL) scheme as parking lots is also still in a limbo. The civic body had identified 13 locations under its jurisdiction that are vacant and belong to different public departments that can be acquired and used for parking purposes.