Lack of interdepartmental coordination also doesn’t help unclog Delhi’s jams

The Delhi Traffic Police claims to be helpless when it comes to resolving the perennial issue of traffic jams in the National Capital. They are blaming the poor engineering of the roads on the persistent congestion. There is also a dearth of police personnel in the traffic department, creating a shortage of traffic police on different junctions of Delhi who help in regulating the flow of traffic.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Kime Kaming toldThe Pioneer that, “While dealing with traffic, there are three principles, which dwell on three E’s. The first E is engineering which is the most important. The road engineering, which includes the broadness of the road and topography, should be such that it is congenial to traffic movement. However, I have seen many roads in Delhi are outdated from an engineering point of view and no longer congenial to the current capacity of vehicles which have been growing exponentially.”

The traffic department said that on an average 2,500 new vehicles are added in the national Capital everyday over the existing fleet of vehicles in Delhi which are already over a crore. “Hence it is necessary to work on these old roads which had been designed in the 70s and 80s and no longer capable of taking the load of the vehicles that have grown exponentially,” the officer said.

Furthermore, the interdepartmental coordination also doesn’t work in favour of Delhi’s roads. The traffic department has written repeatedly to the construction agencies including Public Works Department (PWD) for undertaking new projects in the national Capital to resolve the issue.

“However, sometimes the PWD doesn’t find it feasible,” he said, stating that such issues will remain unless road engineering is made congenial with the traffic load.

Additionally, the traffic police has identified and shared top 12 chronic points, 134 congested roads and several dilapidated roads in a high level meeting with the Secretary of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to resolve the issue of traffic jams in the national Capital, that have been causing significant inconvenience to the commuters on a daily basis.

The top 12 pain points in Delhi include Munja Chowk-Chelmsford Road, Tis Hazari Red-Light on Boulevard Road, Peeragarhi Chowk, Uttam Nagar Chowk, Khanpur M. B. Road, Kalindi Kunj red light, Kondli Bridge, Khajuri Chowk, Madhuban Chowk, Azad Pur Chowk, Samalkha T-Point Dwarka Expressway and Rangpuri, South foot, Mahipalpur flyover, NH-48 as revealed exclusively by the Delhi Traffic Police department.

Moreover, when it comes to regulation of traffic on the ground, Kaming claimed that despite their best efforts, the department remains short staffed making it difficult to manage traffic even as commuters complain often of the lack of police personnels on the road.

“In Delhi we have 50 circles and in each of the circles, there are at least on an average 15 to 25 points. These points are either T-point or crossing junctions. So there we have to put people for regulation,” he stated, adding that however, the staff remains limited.

He added that in each circle, on an average, the police has 50 police personnel. “Now, when you have to put 50 people in 20 or 25 points, then only two people can be put on each point. And two people have to work 24 hours, day and night. So how do we do it? We have to forgo certain less important points,” the officer said.