In a move to enhance road safety and ease traffic congestion in the national Capital, a series of strategic suggestions have been put forward. Key proposals include relocating the bus terminal at Kashmere Gate, identifying traffic congestion points and removing bottlenecks, cracking down on illegal plying of e-rickshaws, and preventing overloading in commercial vehicles.

These measures aim to ensure that commuters no longer endure hours-long traffic jams, promising smoother and safer journeys across the city. At a meeting on Thursday, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena after reviewing the situation on a fortnightly basis has directed the traffic police to expedite the process of sending traffic challans on WhatsApp.

The LG expressed concern over illegal parking on roadside, flyovers, especially by buses which cause inconvenience to commuters and compromise road safety apart from increasing pollution caused by vehicular emission. The LG has also directed for special drives to be carried out to enforce lane driving by buses especially on Ring Road, Airport Road and the national highway stretch with zero tolerance for deviation. Among the ten directives, Saxena stated are, “Traffic Police shall constitute joint teams with Transport Department to check overloading of commercial vehicle and overcrowding of passenger buses.”

He ordered the traffic police to identify vulnerable points of traffic congestion and deploy dedicated teams to ensure smooth flow of traffic on those roads. Further, he stated, “Traffic Police will expedite the process of issuance of challan on Watsapp which will provide timely information about the challans to violators and provide them facility to pay challan anywhere and anytime. It will also increase the rate of realisation of challans.”

“Traffic Police, which was earlier directed to ensure putting in place a system where traffic challans are issued on WhatsApp, was further directed to expedite the process,” the Raj Niwas official said.

The major cause is that Delhi roads are characterised by mixed traffic, which include, personal vehicles, buses, trucks, three-wheelers, two-wheelers, including animal-driven carts and pedestrians. This creates problems for traffic management and leads to delays in movement of the traffic.

 The LG directed the traffic police to enhance the sensibility and presence of personnel on roads. He also urged traffic police should constitute joint teams with the transport department to check overloading of commercial vehicle and overcrowding of passenger buses.

“This will provide timely information about the challans to violators and provide them facility to pay challan anywhere and anytime. It will also increase the rate of realisation of challans,” the official said.

 He also directed for installation of AI-based Automatic Number Plate recognition cameras to fetch information on traffic violation and consequent issuance of challans through SMS and WhatsApp and realisation without human interface.

 Saxena also called for integrating the requirements of traffic police in this project for better coordination amongst transport department and traffic police and to avoid duplicacy of work by both the departments. He also asked the officials to submit a plan to shift ISBT Kashmere Gate to decongest traffic.

The ISBT at Kashmeri Gate is known as Maharana Pratap ISBT, which was opened in 1976.  It served as the only ISBT in the national capital till 1993 when it was transferred to the Transport Department, after which two new ISBTs were created in Sarai Kale Khan and Anand Vihar to de-congest the overcrowded Maharana Pratap ISBT. It was renovated in 2011-2012 by DIMTS at a cost of Rs 70 crores.

Further, traffic police should identify vulnerable points of traffic congestion and deploy dedicated teams to ensure smooth flow of traffic on those roads, the official said.

 The Lt Governor has also asked the officials to conduct a drive to impound illegal e-rickshaws plying on roads without valid registration which cause congestion and impact passenger safety.

He also directed the transport department along with MCD and traffic police to present action plan to implement Parking Policy and called for joint drives of traffic and department to ensure compliance of PUC certification and enforcement.