Delhi High Court today expressed concern over exponential growth in fuel loss due to idling traffic at intersections and jams from the 2005 figure of over Rs 990 crore and directed the Centre and city government to come out with a joint action plan to address the problem.
A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva said that while the Delhi Traffic Police has been trying to deal with the “overwhelming traffic situation” in the national capital, a lot more needs to be done.
After going through a presentation given by the traffic police regarding the traffic management mechanisms employed by it in the city, the court observed that while the agency was doing its bit, a major roadblock was “lack of quality and trained manpower” and said this problem could be dealt with by “investing in infrastructure and utilisation of modern capabilities of developed nations”.
It also expressed concern over the long working hours of police officers, saying it could cause psychological problems, stress apart from attention deficiency.
It noted that the “police with its limited resources was having to do things at a micro level”, but a macro level approach was needed for which both the Centre and Delhi government would have to come together as “management of traffic is need of the hour for safety of the citizens and also from air pollution angle”.
It directed the Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs, by himself or through a nominee, to “initiate a meeting of all the agencies concerned” and submit a proposal to the court with regard to “allocation of specific funds for specific purposes, preparing a timeline for implementation of an intelligent traffic management system, use of helicopters for traffic management and specific timeline for acquisition of equipment in-sync with modern technology for traffic management”.
The bench listed the matter for further hearing on April 27 when it said it would consider the issues with regard to forests and green belt in the national capital.
( Source – PTI )
