Confusion over speed limit multiplies eway commuters’ woes
September 9, 2013
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times Gurgaon,
The ride on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway is getting tougher as regular commuters bear the brunt, thanks to a series of hurdles.
Already hassled with long traffic jams on the two toll plazas at Sirhaul and Kherki Daula, confusion over speed limit adds to their woes.
They rue that despite paying toll twice, the drive towards Manesar and further to Jaipur remains chaotic. “Reckless drivers who flout the speed limit rule the road. They dangerously overtake and have no concept of lane driving,” said Arshdeep Singh, an entrepreneur.
Khsitiz Varma, a resident of Delhi, who drives down to his Manesar office everyday said that there is no implementation of the speed limit on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway and many motorists drive at a dangerous speed of more than 100 kmph. “It gets fatal when they crisscross from one lane to another,” he said.
“Despite clear signage, people overtake from the left whereas they are supposed to overtake from the right using the top lane. You also find motorists who drive at less than 60 kmph in the top lane and don’t give way to others. The top lane is meant only for overtaking,” said a senior traffic official.
According to informed estimates, about 88% of the people here commute either on foot, two-wheelers (including cycles, scooters and motorbikes) or by public transport.
Ironically, this whopping majority is not allowed on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway. There aren’t enough footover bridges or underpasses and the service lanes either do not have pavements or are broken and hazardous. The lack of infrastructure has led to gross traffic violations with cyclists and pedestrians using the expressway at all times during the day.
“The expressway in Gurgaon is not a bypass. It cuts across the city, which is why there is a need for services like foot-over bridges and underpasses for pedestrians. However, these services are shoddy and need to be upgraded soon,” said Sarika Panda Bhatt, an urban planning expert with World Resource Institute.
“In many progressive cities of the world there is a concentrated effort to avoid these urban expressways and wherever these eyesores have been built, they are being torn down, especially those that cut through the city. This is because these minimised use of land space and reduced the quality of life for city residents,” Bhatt added.
NHAI turns its back on motorists’ safety
September 9, 2013
Sanjeev K Ahuja , Hindustan Times Gurgaon,
Motorists headed for the service road leading to Ambience Mall — a major Gurgaon landmark — have to literally risk their lives day in and day out while they attempt a right turn via the U-turn after emerging from the Sirhaul toll plaza on Delhi-Gurgaon expressway.
Even as speeding cars rush past these waiting vehicles — sometimes avoiding accidents just by a whisker — there is no solution to the issue in sight despite a high court intervention.
The U-turn is absolutely critical for people headed for Ambience Mall, Hotel Leela Kempinski or Lagoon Apartments.
Suggestions to construct an underpass here have gone unheard as this was not provisioned in the detailed project report made by the National Highways Authority of India.
“I had proposed to bear the cost of the subway for the welfare of commuters who has to take a right turn from this U-turn and risk their lives to get to the other side of the expressway through the service road. I had also suggested shifting the toll plaza away from Ambience Mall,” said Raj Gehlot, the promoter of Ambience Island.
In September last, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the Gurgaon police not to allow vehicles coming from the Gurgaon side to take a right turn.
However, soon after, public outrage had forced the Haryana Urban Development Authority administrator to intervene and remove the barricades.
In case the U-turn is permanently blocked, the commuters will have to pay toll twice and take a detour of 3.5 kilometres to get to the service lanes.
Residents want barriers and traffic signal on road
September 5, 2013
Hindustan Times (Delhi) /Vibha Sharma MANOJ KUMAR / HT PHOTOS
Narendra Yadav, estate officer, Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), visited Sector 27 recently. The residents raised the matter of installing barriers and a traffic signal on the main road of Sectors 27 and 28 with him at that time.
(( (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
CHAOS AT SOUTH EXTENSION-1 BUS STOPS
September 5, 2013
Hindustan Times (Delhi) /Garima Vohra
It is an ordeal to wait for Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses in South Extension-1. To begin with, there are too many bus stops within a few metres. “The drivers halt the bus according to their will and there choice of bus stop. One has to run from one bus stop to another to catch the same bus as the buses do not halt at the designated bus stops,” says Srikh Mandal, a resident of South Extension-1. Adds Jyotsana Marwah, a college student, “We keep signalling the driver to stop but the bus stops only when they want. None of the drivers follows any rules. If there is already a bus, the other drivers halt either a few metres away from the bus stop or in the middle of the road.” “The ACs of many buses do not work though the passengers have to pay more fare,” adds Harpreet Singh, a resident of Andrews Ganj. “Two bus stops have been removed due to Metro construction. But buses still stop at that place. As a result, passengers have started waiting for buses at these points. Since there is no bus stop, during rush hours, passengers come up to the middle of the road to catch a bus,” says Singh. “Many drivers and conductors have been challaned for turning up for duty without proper uniform. Currently, the biggest challenge for the DTC is to get homeguards. Around 89 night buses were given homeguards for safety but not a single one
Source-http://paper.hindustantimes.com
Traffic police to crack down on DTC buses
September 5, 2013
Subhendu Ray | hindustantimes.com
Police say they will start impounding DTC buses to end ‘killing spree’
NEW DELHI: Deviating from their earlier ‘softer’ stance, Delhi Police have decided to start impounding DTC buses for dangerous driving — a major reason for fatal accidents on city roads.
This year, DTC buses have already claimed 50 lives in the Capital.
On Tuesday, violence erupted in Govindpuri area in south Delhi after a DTC bus killed a 15-year-old student. Sixteen DTC buses were damaged after students went on the rampage.
Anil Shukla, additional commissioner of police (traffic), said, “Enough is enough. We cannot sit idle and let people die under the wheels of DTC buses. We will soon start impounding such buses for dangerous driving and accidents.”
Following a direction from the Delhi High Court early this year, Delhi Police had adopted a strategy of not impounding DTC buses unless they were involved in major accidents. The court had said impounding buses would cause major inconvenience to thousands of commuters.
The traffic police issued challans to 8,590 DTC drivers this
(*till September 3) year of which 3,704 were fined for dangerous driving. they impounded 299 vehicles and arrested 569 drivers so far.
“Indiscipline among DTC drivers while driving is increasing. We will take up the matter with the high court,” a senior traffic police officer said.
On Wednesday, DTC authorities suspended SC Sharda, manager, Srinivaspuri depot. A bus (DL-1P-6475) from this depot had mowed down a student on Tuesday. The transport corporation said they had suffered damages worth R6 lakh and were going to lodge an FIR for damaging government property.
‘Prayer on our lips, craters below, we crawled’
August 26, 2013
Rumu Banerjee & Durgesh Nandan Jha, TNN | Aug 24, 2013, 02.27 AM IST
A nightmare awaited us at Paota, 173km from Delhi. A small town, it’s a halting point for private vehicles and trucks. Two flyovers are being constructed here, within 5km of each other. There are diversions but no signages. Vehicles have to be carefully manoeuvred around waterlogged potholes with deceptive depths. Slow moving vehicles hold up traffic even as shops and other commercial outlets come in the way. Ramavtar Singh, traffic-in-charge at Paota, says, “The village population has increased and the local traffic often spills over to the highway. On weekends, after 1.30pm, vehicles barely move along this stretch. Accidents are also common.”
Luckily for us, it was a Monday and we had crossed Paota before the trucks took over. With some luck, we managed to cross Kotputli in 20 minutes but the good feeling didn’t last long. Behror, located 133km from Delhi, was a killjoy. It is bigger than Paota and a midway point. Three consecutive flyovers – all under construction – have turned the stretch into an obstacle course.
The absence of a proper road for those on the way from Delhi to Jaipur to go to the midway means that all such vehicles – cars, buses, motorcycles and trucks – take a slip road below the flyover, that is an uneven stretch with large boulders, to go to the other side. They, obviously, then come in conflict with the traffic coming from the Jaipur side. Getting through this stretch took us more than half-an-hour. By this time, it was dark and we were praying for beating therush of trucks.
But trouble loomed ahead as we reached Neemrana – hundreds of trucks had taken over the road, several just parked on the wayside. The service lane seemed to be our only hope but it didn’t go all the way, forcing us back into the impregnable phalanx of trucks. The bustling industrial areas of Neemrana were, meanwhile, disgorging their own vehicles on to the road.
It was 7.30pm and Gurgaon was still 90km and two toll booths (Manesar and Gurgaon) away. The highway was illuminated only by the headlights of the vehicles and we had to constantly watch out for potholes and craters. At Asalwas, the lack of signages ensured that we almost missed a diversion, since only half the flyover had been completed and that too was closed. Now we were just weaving around trucks as if in a videogame.
At Dharuhera, things took a downward spiral. Many trucks were stuck, some having broken down along the way. The traffic just grew and grew with the Sohna road joining NH-8 at this point. Heavy waterlogging had only worsened the situation. Rooted to one spot for 45 minutes, we saw no hope. Our car, an Etios, swerved into a service lane when suddenly the SUV in front seemed to tilt very sharply. At the end of the lane was a massive crater. The SUV survived it and we simply prayed. Ten minutes and some gentle steering later, we had passed the test. Not yet. Over the next hour-and-half, Bilaspur and Manesar came back to haunt us.
By the time we reached the Manesar toll booth, it was 11pm and there was a long line of trucks and other vehicles. We spent 15 minutes here and were ready for more ahead. Miraculously, the traffic seemed to get better as we approached the Gurgaon toll booth. We reached Delhi at midnight.
Govt plans Rs 1,260cr hi-tech drive to make Delhi safer
August 23, 2013
NEW DELHI: A Rs 1,260-crore mega project promises to change the face of policing in the capital. Conceived after the Nirbhaya gang rape, the Union home ministry’s Safe City Project will put the entire criminal database in the hands of the cop on duty through the latest IT tools and monitor public places through a wide network of CCTVs.The high-tech plan covers everything from video analytics to facial scanning. Once implemented, the system will enable police personnel to run a background check on any suspicious person or vehicle anywhere in the city. Other components of the system will help in detecting explosives, alerting about perimeter intrusion, reading biometrics, detecting speed violations at night, and even analyzing prisoner movement and digital crime mapping.
Delhi Police has already taken the first steps to implement the project, to be funded by the home ministry through its mega city policing plan. Pricewater house Coopers has been hired as consultant on various technology initiatives for a Rs 6-crore fee and the World Bank is expected to contribute Rs 40 crore for the project.
The final amount, though, will be decided by the MHA, which has been sent the proposal. Senior police officers say PWC has been tasked to prepare detailed project reports and requests for proposals, bring implementation agencies on board and manage the implementation, review and improvement of new systems.
The idea behind the Safe City Project is simple—effective policing, but it is a complex system built on four components. The two most important parts are its Integrated Intelligent Surveillance Systems (IISS) and the Automated Traffic Management Systems (ATMS), followed by capacity building and initiatives for upgrading. The IISS at the ground level will mean that all officers on the road will use hand-held personal digital assistant (PDA) devices that are no less than a computer. The PDAs will have online access, enabling an officer to check whether the car he has hailed for inspection is stolen or the driver has a crime record. At a larger level, these single checks will help police secure the city.
At present, Delhi has CCTVs installed in 26 markets and at five border points. Installation work in 28 other markets and 10 border points is 65% done. CCTV installation at the Supreme Court, high court and district court complexes is also over. All these steps will bring the total number of surveillance cameras up to 5,333.
Once the Safe City Project starts rolling, another 6,625 cameras will be installed at 479 locations while the traffic police are expected to install 5,000 CCTV cameras at important intersections, taking the total to 16,928 CCTV cameras covering every corner of the city.
Delhi Police’s cyber cell led by joint CP Sandeep Goel, the special cell led by joint CP MM Oberoi and the traffic police led by additional CP Anil Shukla will oversee implementation of the project in the next two years. However, vendors who win the project bids will be paid for the five years, with the extra three years allotted for maintenance.
“The verification facilities will be available to PCR and beat officers and the hand-held devices will authenticate the criminal history of a person,” said joint CP Sandeep Goel, adding that police vehicles will be equipped with automatic number plate readers and CCTV footage will be analyzed in real time.
The ATMS will be a unified solution for traffic problems. It will be able to track e-challans, check speeding at night with night-vision speed detectors. It will also analyze the peak loads and junction management.
Other initiatives under the project include a PCR upgrade, cyber security, training of field officers, data integration with private entities like hotels at the local level and disaster fighting authorities like fire brigade and National Disaster Management Authority. Besides the police’s C4i control room, there will be two data centres, two mobile command centres, 800 mobile terminals for PCR vans and 6,000 hand-held devices. Experts, however, say the project alone cannot make Delhi safer. “Merely bringing in devices and CCTVs is not enough. It is important that Delhi Police customize the software according to ground realities. For example, dense fog and monkeys—common Delhi problems—can play havoc with video analytics. Similarly, connecting 243 locations is not enough. A clever use of wireless and optic solutions will help police get the right kind of digital feed for analysis,” said Dipankar Ghosh, director of a firm which deals with such security solutions.
Times view
State-of-the-art technology is an invaluable aid to policing, but Delhi Police must realize that machines can only be as effective as the men behind them. If all of this money and effort is not to go waste, the men must be trained to use this technology optimally and the equipment must be well-maintained . So often our CCTVs don’t work. That’s just not acceptable. Moreover, modernization is not just about technology; the police force must imbibe a modern mindset — a mindset that’s service-oriented and shows greater gender sensitivity. Only then will the police slogan of “with you, for you, always” have real meaning.
Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Govt plans Rs 1,260cr hi-tech drive to make Delhi safer
August 2, 2013
Dwaipayan Ghosh, TNN |
NEW DELHI: A Rs 1,260-crore mega project promises to change the face of policing in the capital. Conceived after the Nirbhaya gang rape, the Union home ministry’s Safe City Project will put the entire criminal database in the hands of the cop on duty through the latest IT tools and monitor public places through a wide network of CCTVs.The high-tech plan covers everything from video analytics to facial scanning. Once implemented, the system will enable police personnel to run a background check on any suspicious person or vehicle anywhere in the city. Other components of the system will help in detecting explosives, alerting about perimeter intrusion, reading biometrics, detecting speed violations at night, and even analyzing prisoner movement and digital crime mapping.Delhi Police has already taken the first steps to implement the project, to be funded by the home ministry through its mega city policing plan. PricewaterhouseCoopers has been hired as consultant on various technology initiatives for a Rs 6-crore fee and the World Bank is expected to contribute Rs 40 crore for the project.The final amount, though, will be decided by the MHA, which has been sent the proposal. Senior police officers say PWC has been tasked to prepare detailed project reports and requests for proposals, bring implementation agencies on board and manage the implementation, review and improvement of new systems.
The idea behind the Safe City Project is simple—effective policing, but it is a complex system built on four components. The two most important parts are its Integrated Intelligent Surveillance Systems (IISS) and the Automated Traffic Management Systems (ATMS), followed by capacity building and initiatives for upgrading. The IISS at the ground level will mean that all officers on the road will use hand-held personal digital assistant (PDA) devices that are no less than a computer. The PDAs will have online access, enabling an officer to check whether the car he has hailed for inspection is stolen or the driver has a crime record. At a larger level, these single checks will help police secure the city.
At present, Delhi has CCTVs installed in 26 markets and at five border points. Installation work in 28 other markets and 10 border points is 65% done. CCTV installation at the Supreme Court, high court and district court complexes is also over. All these steps will bring the total number of surveillance cameras up to 5,333.
Once the Safe City Project starts rolling, another 6,625 cameras will be installed at 479 locations while the traffic police are expected to install 5,000 CCTV cameras at important intersections, taking the total to 16,928 CCTV cameras covering every corner of the city.
Delhi Police’s cyber cell led by joint CP Sandeep Goel, the special cell led by joint CP MM Oberoi and the traffic police led by additional CP Anil Shukla will oversee implementation of the project in the next two years. However, vendors who win the project bids will be paid for the five years, with the extra three years allotted for maintenance.
“The verification facilities will be available to PCR and beat officers and the hand-held devices will authenticate the criminal history of a person,” said joint CP Sandeep Goel, adding that police vehicles will be equipped with automatic number plate readers and CCTV footage will be analyzed in real time.
The ATMS will be a unified solution for traffic problems. It will be able to track e-challans, check speeding at night with night-vision speed detectors. It will also analyze the peak loads and junction management.
Other initiatives under the project include a PCR upgrade, cyber security, training of field officers, data integration with private entities like hotels at the local level and disaster fighting authorities like fire brigade and National Disaster Management Authority. Besides the police’s C4i control room, there will be two data centres, two mobile command centres, 800 mobile terminals for PCR vans and 6,000 hand-held devices. Experts, however, say the project alone cannot make Delhi safer. “Merely bringing in devices and CCTVs is not enough. It is important that Delhi Police customize the software according to ground realities. For example, dense fog and monkeys—common Delhi problems—can play havoc with video analytics. Similarly, connecting 243 locations is not enough. A clever use of wireless and optic solutions will help police get the right kind of digital feed for analysis,” said Dipankar Ghosh, director of a firm which deals with such security solutions.
Times view
State-of-the-art technology is an invaluable aid to policing, but Delhi Police must realize that machines can only be as effective as the men behind them. If all of this money and effort is not to go waste, the men must be trained to use this technology optimally and the equipment must be well-maintained . So often our CCTVs don’t work. That’s just not acceptable. Moreover, modernization is not just about technology; the police force must imbibe a modern mindset — a mindset that’s service-oriented and shows greater gender sensitivity. Only then will the police slogan of “with you, for you, always” have real meaning.
To reduce accidents, DTC bus drivers to train on simulator
June 26, 2013
Subhendu Ray, Hindustan Times
To ensure safe driving and to bring down the number of accidents, Delhi Transport Officials (DTC) officials on Monday decided to train its drivers on simulators.
The decision comes a day after HT’s report on how the public transport buses in the Capital are on a killing spree. The DTC buses have killed 32 people this year till June 15. The corresponding figure for the same period last year was 27.
A team of senior DTC officials met on Monday to discuss measures for driver sensitisation. The training will be provided to the drivers in batches.
“We have proposed to make simulator training mandatory for DTC drivers and conductors. The training will help them learn road norms, adverse impact of speeding, jumping traffic signals and lane violations,” said Anil Shukla, additional commissioner of police (traffic).
According to DTC officials, the Automobile Association of Upper India, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers and the Institute of Driving Training and Research will help in the training.
DTC has no such facility and a proposal to install heavy vehicle simulators has been under consideration for the past few years.
The DTC had tied up with an Indian automobile manufacturing giant to develop a state-of-the-art training institute with hi-tech simulators for to train drivers.
A site for the institute was identified in West Delhi. “However, the project got stuck as the DDA declined to change the land use since it was a green land,” a DTC official said.
The traffic police have also asked the DTC to check records of their drivers, many of whom drove blueline buses before they went off the roads.
Source-http://www.hindustantimes.com
Police to install CCTVs at four key intersections
June 18, 2013
Leena Dhankhar, Hindustan Times New Delhi,
To enhance surveillance, Gurgaon police have decided to install CCTV cameras at four major intersections of the Millennium City in 15 days. The move came after the recent spate of robberies at these junctions. The four crossings to come under round-the-clock surveillance are Iffco Chowk, MG Road Metro Station, Huda City Metro Station and Iffco Chowk Metro Station. Iffco Chowk will be the first location where cameras will be installed.
The joint commissioner of police directed ACP Bhupinder Singh to initiate the work on the project. After the cameras are installed, police will be able to check suspicious activities.
Joint commissioner of police Maheshwar Dayal told HT: “The initiative will ensure safety and security of commuters. The cameras would record all incidents of robbery, theft, molestation and traffic violation. The control room of the CCTV cameras would be in my office.”
According to police, two traffic officials have been given the task of monitoring the CCTV feeds.
The ACP said, “We do not have exclusive cameras to keep a tab on the movement of suspicious elements. This initiative will help us identify, chase and nab the accused.”
Although gangs like ‘maxi-cab’ gang that killed about 30 people are active in Gurgaon, police have not taken any effective steps to curb such incidents. A Mewati gang also operate in the city at night.After the cameras are installed at Iffco Chowk, Gurgaon police will focus on the other three intersections. These intersections have become a potential security hazard to the commuters.
Source-http://www.hindustantimes.com
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