According to the data maintained by Delhi Traffic Police, till July 15 this year, e-rickshaws had been involved in more than 36 accidents, which have caused two fatalities. The death of Dev — Tuesday’s victim — has pushed the death toll to three with clamour growing louder for the regularisation of the batterypowered vehicles.

Overloading, not following traffic signals and driving in the wrong direction are some of the offences that these battery operated rickshaws are often guilty of, the traf fic cops claimed.

Earlier in June, an announcement for regularising these threewheeler vehicles had come as relief for the traffic police officers who had to manage these unruly vehicles on the roads which seldom followed rules.

But the delay in execution of these regularisation laws by the corporation has only helped making matters worse.

“We have drafted all rules and regulations to be followed by the e-rickshaw drivers once they come under the corporation’s purview. Soon we will be able to control the accidents caused by these rickshaws,” said a senior official from NDMC.

Known for providing last-mile connectivity, these compact vehicles ply on narrow lanes of congested colonies and often create panic among pedestrians.

In Tuesday’s incident Dev’s mother was taking him for a walk to the nearby market when an an e-rickshaw is said to have come out of nowhere and hit the duo.

Traffic officers corroborated that not obeying traffic signals, carrying more passengers than the vehicle’s designated space and not switching on the headlights at night not only endangered the lives of the passengers in the rickshaws but also pedestrians and other drivers on the road.

Source-http://paper.hindustantimes.com/

NEW DELHI: Failing to put an automated intelligent traffic system (ITS) in place in the national Capital despite several attempts, the Delhi traffic police are now working to make them smart manually.

With the help of Google Maps they are conducting an in depth study on traffic patterns, road conditions, average vehicular speed, volume of traffic and discharge capacity of intersection arms at tarffic intersections. Accordingly, they will pre-fix the signal cycle timings to five to eight different time brackets of the day. “We have started the process about four months ago and have already re-tuned about 500 signals in east and west Delhi of 1200 total signals and blinkers in the city. This has significantly improved the traffic situation in these areas by reducing waiting time and improving the process of vehicle discharge,” said Anil Shukla, additional commissioner of police (traffic).

Some of the major intersections where the system is already in place include Kirti Nagar, Punjabi Bag, Mayapuri on Ring Road, Ramesh Nagar, East Patel Nagar and Rajouri Garden circle.

The ongoing process of tuning all 1200 signals and blinkers will be completed within a couple of months, he said

Source-http://paper.hindustantimes.com

 ((  (There is a demand to install a traffic signal and barriers at this point.)

Considering that the main road of Sectors 27 and 28 and the main road of Sector 43 are one way, vehicles go past at a high speed. It is very difficult for pedestrians to cross these roads. People also find it difficult to take a turn towards their colony or come out of it. The circumstances also increase the chance of accidents. To overcome these problems the RWA members requested Yadav to arrange for the installation of barriers on the road and also a traffic signal.

Says Harish Ahuja, secretary of the Sector 27 RWA, “There was a major accident here last month. Installing barriers is important to avoid accidents.”

Yadav spoke to Arun Dhankar, executive engineer, electric wing, HUDA, for the installation of barriers in the next one week. He asked for two months time for the installation of a traffic signal on this stretch. The residents also demanded installation of signboards in the area. “Ideally, signboards mentioning the sectors on this road and mentioning it as one way road should be installed at the beginning of the road. But the absence of such signboards causes a lot of inconvenience to a person coming here for the first time,” adds Ahuja.

The residents also raised the matter of poor maintenance of the parks in the area. “In a majority of the parks, the trees have been planted haphazardly. These have been planted in the middle of the parks leaving no space for the children to play and visitors to sit. There is absolutely no planning. The bushes and the plants are overgrown and need pruning. No one ever comes for maintenance. Similarly, the infrastructure facilities in the parks are not up to the mark. The water valve is missing in some places,” adds MC Gulati, RWA member. The residents have suggested that the parks be developed as model parks. After discussing the matter with the officials of the horticulture wing, HUDA, Yadav agreed to develop one park as a model park.

Says VK Nirala, executive engineer, horticulture department, HUDA, “We have received the instructions and soon we will be developing one park as a model park. We will do the designing and beautification work by setting stones at the entrance and inside as well. Since the maintenance of a model park is an issue as we have to arrange for guards as well, plans are on to convert one park into a model park as if now.”

Nirala accepted the fact that the parks have no space for people to sit and children to play. “I agree that trees are planted unevenly in the middle of the parks and this causes inconvenience to the visitors. But we can’t do anything or cut the trees. These have been planted like this since the establishment of sector,” he adds.

Regarding the regular cleaning of sewerlines, Yadav also instructed the concerned officials to arrange for proactive cleaning. “Rather than waiting for the residents’ complaints about the overflowing of sewerlines, it is important for officials to arrange regular cleaning,” said Yadav.

Source-http://paper.hindustantimes.com