The excess fuel consumption has often been cited as the prime reason for the dwindling economy of India, the Government recognises it but seems to have turned a blind eye to the wastage of huge quantity of fuel at busy traffic intersections for the want of an effective traffic regulation plan.
This includes the busy ITO intersection in Delhi. Touted as the busiest intersection in India, the ITO crossing caters to over four lakh vehicles per day and an estimate suggests that fuel worth over Rs 350 crore annually is wasted just to cross this stretch. The correlation of petroleum consumption with the economy can be gauged from the assertion of Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas that petrol pumps should be closed after 8 pm to dissuade people from excess fuel usage.
Estimates suggest that on an average, 4 lakh vehicles cross the ITO junction daily, making it one of the busiest intersections across the country. Going by the estimates, over 16,000 vehicles cross ITO per hour. Calculating the idling time for each vehicle to be 15 minutes minimum during peak hours and taking into account that one litre of petrol gives a mileage of 10 km on an average, a vehicle is able to run only 1.5 km during these 15 minutes. Applying this logic, each vehicle burns fuel worth Rs 100 just to cross this stretch.
Considering only the rush hours (three hours in the morning and another three hours in the evening) and a lakh vehicles crossing the stretch daily, the fuel consumption on the stretch amounts to Rs 1 crore daily. This means that in a year, Rs 365 crore is guzzled by vehicles to cross ITO.
According to experts, the holding capacity of the intersection is insignificant as compared to the volume of traffic, which is very high and has only grown over the years. The large inflow of vehicles entering ITO from all directions triggers traffic bottlenecks and increases waiting time for vehicle owners. This, in turn, increases traffic congestion, air and sound pollution and wastes commuters’ time and energy. The intersection is typical of the integration of two junctions located on either side of the railway track. Apart from being a commercial hub, ITO also serves as the entry point to central Delhi and a huge population living across the Yamuna to east Delhi. long traffic snarls during morning and evening rush hours is the order of the day.
The traffic plan for ITO faces the biggest challenge on BSZ Marg, which has the dual problem of vehicular pile-up during peak hours and shortage of parking space for office-goers. The BSZ Marg, which houses several prominent media houses, the newly-opened passport office and a number of banks, is frequented by thousands of motorists every day. The Metro construction work in the area has aggravated traffic gridlock on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.
Due to the construction work, one carriageway has been closed to traffic and vehicles going towards Delhi Gate from ITO Chowk have been diverted to Deen Dayal Upadhayay Marg, Vishnu Digamber Marg and then Kotla Marg and then take a right towards BSZ service lane.