No fresh licences for autorickshaw drivers in district, recommends Noida traffic cop

Noida has the best roads in the NCR. But it has the worst traffic movement. Traffic signals not being followed by commuters, police personnel deputed at the intersections caught napping

Noida has the best roads in the NCR. But it has the worst traffic movement. Traffic signals not being followed by commuters, police personnel deputed at the intersections caught napping, missing zebra crossings at various places and vehicles parked at unauthorised places sum up the ailing traffic management. Gautam Budh Nagar district’s superintendent of police (traffic) Rajeev Narayan Mishra speaks out on the traffic chaos on Noida roads and the way forward.

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Why is there anarchy on the city’s roads?

Nearly five lakh vehicles from the city and neighbouring Delhi, Ghazaibad and Faridabad can be seen running on the Noida roads. There are some traffic engineering issues that need to be sorted out by the Noida authority. Remodelling of some intersections, synchronization of traffic signals on some junctions, closing a few road cuts, making U-turns on some stretches and subways or skywalks for pedestrians are a must. As for the enforcement part, we are managing with only 18% of our sanctioned strength. Noida authority is soon going to provide us 50 ex-servicemen who will be used in regulating traffic.

What steps do you recommend to bring order on the city roads?

I have recommended that no fresh licences be issued to autorickshaw drivers in the district. I have also opposed ending of the 16-km regime for autorickshaws in the city. Doing away with the regime will result in further congestion on the city roads as autorickshaw drivers plying in the neighbouring areas will also start running on the city routes that would be more lucrative. A city bus service for the city connecting the Metro stations with other parts of the city will help in reducing vehicular traffic on the roads.

What is the role of commuters in reducing congestion?

Public participation is very important in streamlining traffic in the city. We welcome healthy suggestions from the denizens. Our facebook page is full of comments and suggestions from commuters. Sometime back we followed the suggestion given by a woman and resolved a major issue of driving in the wrong direction near Sector 10. Some pictures posted on our facebook page about the laxity of our personnel have also been taken into account. But, I believe educating commuters will also help a great deal. During our drives, we are not only fining the offenders, but are also educating commuters about their duties.