In Srinagar Signals Are Turned Off to Avoid Vehicle Rush!
Faiqa Masoodi (Rising Kashmir)
Srinagar: While the summer capital is already infamous for lack of traffic sense, several spots in City are becoming commuters’ nightmare, due to non-functional traffic signals installed recently.Though the traffic lights installed at various busy junctions of the city came as a respite from the ever increasing vehicle rush, the technical faults have made many of them defunct.
Traffic lights installed at junctions like Karan Nagar Chowk, Jehangir Chowk, Sanat Nagar, Pantha Chowk, Radio Kashmir Srinagar, Zero Bridge remain out of order for most of the time. And if functional they either flash red or green lights only thus confusing the drivers.
Talking to Rising Kashmir, SP Traffic (City), Haseeb-ur-Rehman said the rush of vehicles is so huge especially in the evening hours that we have to turn off the signals and direct the traffic movement manually. “There are definitely some technical faults as we don’t have the advanced system for maintaining the traffic signals. The less roads and more number of vehicles has further added to our problems as the rush of vehicles is so immense that we prefer to turn off the lights,” the SP said. Adding he said the places like Rambagh, Dalgate witness such heavy traffic rush that the lights are of no use there at times. “These lights don’t work on the sensors but are automatically fixed with some time periods. So they can’t judge which road has more number of vehicles. They glow according to the fixed time and this, at times, adds to the traffic mess. That is why we prefer to put them off on the occasions of festival or during heavy rush of vehicles,” Haseeb-ur-Rehman said. Maintaining that the department is working on the technical issues, Haseeb said it is a big project and will be completed in a phased manner. “Our control room is ready and we are installing the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in it. That way we can watch the traffic flow on the important routes of the city and can also keep an eye on those who violate the traffic signals,” he said.
About the functioning of traffic lights in winters, the SP City said it entirely depends on the power backup. “Power Development Department (PDD) has also a role to play in winters as the lights cannot function without electricity. They have the maximum backup of eight hours only and need regular power supply,” said Haseeb-ur-Rehman. SMC Commissioner, G N Qasba did not answer the repeated calls.
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