THE PEOPLE are now wasting more fuel, causing more atmospheric pollution and taking more time to reach their destination—all due to the increased idling and slow movement of their vehicles..
Call them teething problems or something else, but the traffic department’s new initiative to control the vehicular movement through hi-tech traffic lights is landing people in more traffic jams.
The scenes of all types of vehicles jostling in the thick and very long queues are common these days. People have to wait for long before they get green signals.
And when there is a signal to go, all type of vehicles-buses, cars, scooters, autos, and bicycles start vying with one another on the same path as there is no lane system. And this leads to chaos.
One can always see the chaos especially on the busy Vidhan Sabha Marg, Ashok Marg and the Raj Bhawan Road. The scene only becomes worse during the office hours. At time queues of vehicles waiting for the right signal stretch as long as from Sikandarbagh crossing to Hazratganj crossing .
“It took me more than half an hour to reach Jawhar Bhawan from Raj Bhwawan” complained a scooterist. He said waiting time at the main crossings where the lights have been fitted and operated has suddenly increased Another person said that at times confusion also prevailed at the crossing due to overlapping or contradictory signals sent by the traffic cops and the traffic lights. More and more people are making such complaints.
{{/usCountry}}“It took me more than half an hour to reach Jawhar Bhawan from Raj Bhwawan” complained a scooterist. He said waiting time at the main crossings where the lights have been fitted and operated has suddenly increased Another person said that at times confusion also prevailed at the crossing due to overlapping or contradictory signals sent by the traffic cops and the traffic lights. More and more people are making such complaints.
{{/usCountry}}It is not that authorities are not aware of the new problem. “Yes, we are witnessing more traffic jams these days,” admitted SP (Traffic), Omkar Singh.
But he claimed it was only a matter of a week or so when things would be syncronised to give way to the smooth traffic movement. “After all it is only an experimental phase and the formal take-off of the traffic light project is yet to take place,” he argued.
Singh claimed traffic lights would be fitted with sensors which would visualise the traffic volume on a particular road and give commands to the signals accordingly.
The traffic department has identified 32 points for installing the vehicle actuated traffic lights. The department plans to make a formal inauguration of the project on June 15. The crossings where the lights have already been functional include Lalbatti crossing, Bandariabagh, DSO crossing, Hazratganj, Sapru Marg, and LIC crossing.