Traffic signals in the national Capital will now be unaffected by power outages. The Government has decided to install power inverters at these traffic signals to ensure uninterrupted power supply and consequently smooth flow of traffic. The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked the Delhi Traffic Police to launch the project on an experimental basis. Depending on its success, the same will be implemented in other States.
Sources said initially the inverters will be installed at major intersections and stretches like ITO, Mathura Road, Delhi Gate, Ashram Chowk and BRT Corridor among others. later other intersections across the city will be equipped with power inverters. “If the pilot project is successful, the report will be shared with the National Highways Authority of India and other State Governments for its implementation,” sources said.
To ensure round-the-clock power supply for traffic signals, the Government had earlier planned to install solar panels. However, the idea was shelved as initial surveys and feasibility reports suggested that the solar panels would be very expensive. Officials said the cost of converting one regular traffic signal into a solar-powered one would be around Rs 12 to 15 lakh. Accordingly, installing solar panels in all 1,200 traffic interactions (800 signals and 400 blinkers) in Delhi would cost around Rs 150 crore to Rs 180 crore.
Contrary to this, an official said, the proposal of installing inverters is cost effective and its installation at regular traffic signal would cost around Rs 10,000. However, the police will have to make arrangements to protect this equipment from potential burglaries and thefts.
According to Delhi Traffic Police, traffic signals are mainly disrupted by power outages during summers and water seepage during the monsoon. Once the signal stops operation for a while, it consumes a lot of time to reset the signal timings. “As traffic signals become non-functional, the traffic cops have to handle the situation and the traffic flow gets messed up. Further when the power supply is restored, they have to manually set the timings of the traffic lights at the intersections. It is a time consuming affair,” said a traffic police official.
“The proposal has been approved and the power inverters will be installed at 30 busy traffic interactions across the city. later, all signals will be equipped with inverters in a phased manner. This will ensure smooth functioning of traffic signals and help avoid traffic snarls,” added the officer. The Traffic Police with its limited manpower find it hard to manage the chaos in the Capital which has over 70 lakh vehicles. Even the analysis of accidents revealed that the most fatal accidents occur during the daytime from 12 to 3 pm. Non-working traffic signals only compound the problem.