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Will traffic behaviour ever improve in
our city?
DNA, September 15, 2016 |
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By Pradeep S Mehta
I travel abroad frequently
for my work, and the road discipline that I see in poor
African countries is starkly far better than India. They do
not even honk when traffic is crawling.
n the recent past, many new traffic lights have been
installed across the city. One hopes that this move will
help improve the driving habits of our vehicle drivers but
it is a big no.
Many drivers continue to drive through red lights or in the
opposite direction (and many a times speaking on their
mobiles) creating a hazard for those who follow the rules.
Enforcement is poor: My concern as a road safety activist is
that things are going from bad to worse. My angst as a car
driver is that if a crazy two wheeler rider hits me and
sustains injuries or dies, then I am held guilty because I
am driving the bigger vehicle. If this trend of indiscipline
on roads continues, my worry is how the next generations
will cope with it.
I travel abroad frequently for my work, and the road
discipline that I see in poor African countries is starkly
far better than India. They do not even honk when traffic is
crawling. In India, we honk for no rhyme or reason, under
some false assumption that since there is a horn it must be
used. I feel ashamed and we claim that we are a 5,000 year
old civilisation.
We were told that there will be close circuit TV cameras at
traffic crossings in Jaipur and violators will be
prosecuted. I have not heard of a single case. This is
evident from the lackadaisical manner in which the Jaipur
Police functions.
They launched a Whatsapp number for citizens to send their
complaints/views etc. I sent one message sometime ago that
the bigger vehicles were not allowed on the elevated road
towards Jaipur on Ajmer highway and there was a ceiling
barrier. The barrier has been removed and buses have started
plying on the elevated road merrily.
I did not get any response from the police to my message on
Whatsapp for a long time, in spite of few reminders to the
number and the Commissioner. Finally, I got a response that
the matter is being resolved soon. That is yet to happen.
Buses continue to ply on the elevated road.
The Whatsapp number for Jaipur Police and the facility was
announced with great fanfare but my one experience only
confirms our fears that things are not so hunky dory.
Reverting to the wildness of our drivers on the roads, I
wonder how safe our pedestrians are. The city administration
is also not worried about their safety. Every day I drive
past the Station Crossing to reach my office, which allows a
smooth flow of traffic after one way is imposed during the
day.
But the smooth traffic flow does not take into account the
plight of the pedestrians who have to cross the road at the
crossing. The poor guys have to dodge the traffic and carry
on at their own peril. The same situation prevails at the
Sahkar Bhavan roundabout.
If Jaipur has to become a world class city and is now
getting funding under the SMART Cities programme, AMRUT etc,
should we not make lives of our citizens safer and better.
Or are we so insensitive that it does not matter.
This news can
also be viewed at: http://dnaindia.com/
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See Also
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CUTS International
KNN News, October 05, 2016
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Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS)
D–217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park, Jaipur 302016, Rajasthan,
India
Ph: +91 141 2282821, Fax: +91 141 2282485, Email: cuts@cuts.org |
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