A better question may be, “When will Kashmiris mature to realize that life consists of accomodating others making their journey on an intersecting, but different, road?
Traffic Deptt, R&B Pass The Buck
Faheem Aslam (Greater Kashmir)
Srinagar: Notwithstanding traffic mismanagement, rising road accidents and mounting vehicular population, Jammu and Kashmir is yet to switch over to electronic traffic signals which, according to experts, can go a long way in effectively manning the traffic and minimizing accidents.
According to observers, traffic in the twin cities of Srinagar and Jammu was effectively regulated by the electronic traffic signals nearly four decades back. But today, the system is non-existent indicating the level of “retreat” in the traffic sector. Today only the remnants of traffic signals are seen in parts of Srinagar and Jammu cities.
“Traffic signals have been installed across the world. It is an effective system which can help us regulate the traffic effectively in Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the twin cities of Srinagar and Jammu,” said the former Inspector General of Police (Traffic), Muhammad Amin Shah.
Sources in the Traffic Department said they many a time mooted proposals to the Roads and Buildings Department, asking them to get the traffic signals installed at several road intersections identified by the department in Srinagar and Jammu. But the proposals, they said, were gathering dust as nobody was serious in having the signals installed.
Sources said a company which deals with installation of traffic signals had told the Traffic Department that it would install them free of cost, provided it was given the advertisement rights. “The company wanted to install its advertisements near the traffic signal spots. But the bureaucracy-bug ate the proposal,” they said.
Interestingly, the Traffic Department has called for an immediate installation of the electronic traffic signal in the state for effective traffic management. “The traffic police feels handicapped to effectively regulate traffic in the two cities, especially at the road intersections.
It has been observed, both at national and international level, that the effective mechanism to regulate traffic on the intersections is done by electronic traffic signals. The installation of traffic signals on the road intersections ensures, besides the volume and speed control, the saving of manpower, which ultimately leads to efficient regulation and effective safety on road intersections,” writes MA Shah in the Traffic Info 2010, the Department’s annual publication.
It adds: “Based on this principle, the whole world has switched over completely to electronic traffic regulation. Thus installing traffic signals in Jammu and Kashmir is a necessity to improve the traffic management on its roads.”
The department has conducted a survey of cities of Srinagar and Jammu, identifying 67 and 55 road intersections respectively, which require electronic signals for smooth traffic regulations. But the exercise has not yielded any concrete results, as proposals with regard to traffic regulation have allegedly been shelved by the PWD.
A senior traffic police official said it would not take more than Rs 10 crores to get the electronic traffic system installed in the two cities. “But the question is who will bell the cat? The project has become a victim of petty politics between the R&B, Traffic Department and parties that intend to install the system,” the official, pleading anonymity, said. “We had this system. But that time it was perhaps discarded because there was no power back up to the traffic lights. Today we have the power and we can install the system easily. You can see a quantum decrease in road accidents.”
When contacted, the Minister of State for R&B, Javed Ahmad Dar, said he was yet to see a proposal from the Traffic Department regarding the traffic signal installation. “We will install it. But the proposal has to come from the traffic department. And then we have to see its funding aspect also. Who’ll fund it? I think the traffic police have money to spend on the project. We can act as an executing agency,” he told Greater Kashmir