Schoolchildren studying ‘Rules of the Road’ in their classrooms may actually get confused on Ranchi roads as they would not find the Yellow lights blink at the traffic junctions. It’s just Stop and GO in Ranchi as the word look is missing in Ranchi police’s dictionary. The dysfunctional yellow lights and digital signals at traffic junctions of the state capital are not only creating problems for the motorists here, but also potentially dangerous for them.
Accepting the failure of traffic cops, City Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Rajiv Ranjan on Monday said, “We were trying to repair the yellow lights and counters in many junctions of the city with the help of an agency through PPP mode. Unfortunately, our efforts have failed as we lack funds. A proposal for this requirement was sent to the State Road Construction department few days ago. Unless, the funds are not provided we are helpless in solving the problems of the residents.”
“We alone are not responsible for all the mismanagement in traffic,” the Traffic SP added.
Meanwhile, when the concerned officers of Road Construction department were approached for their feedback over this matter, none of them responded to the query. Some said, “We are aware of this request but please ask our Principal Secretary for the present status”. The Secretary, on the other hand, was constantly unreachable over phone despite several attempts.
Residents suffering this problem in the day-to-day life are demanding prompt solution so that the school and college goers driving in a hurry are not blamed for “wrong” driving sense. “These days the youngsters may balance their vehicles. Moreover, there are senior citizens and ladies who drive carefully by observing the traffic lights. In such scenario, most of them follow only the lights and digits shown on the signal boards. But, the indications of traffic cops are opposite to the ones shown on signal boards. This creates confusion,” Abhiman Roy residing at Station Road said.
Another resident Abhishek Prasad of Doranda said, “When we stop at Kantatoli Chowk, Siromtoli Chowk or Ratan Talkies the counter displays 80 seconds. But, traffic cops show pass sign by the time it is 35 or 40 minutes. Many of us who keep on watching on the counters are bashed by other vehicles.”
Supporting Roy and Prasad, Siddhant Goswami of Hinoo said that Ranchi is comparatively unplanned than other developing cities in terms of traffic management. “The Traffic cops should themselves try to follow the lights shown at the signals else individuals like us will keep on confusing,” Abhiman Roy added.