Traffic signalling is the modern technology of regulating traffic on the crossings, rotaries and squares. Additionally the signals also give in time frame in seconds within which the signal will change. This system is in operation in almost all big cities of the country. In July last, electronic signal system was introduced by the Jammu Municipal Corporation in the city. The project cost 1.98 crore rupees and forty chowks in the city and in its peripheries were provided with traffic signals. For a few days these worked as desired but then the traffic police, to whom the system was entrusted as it was thereafter its baby, came out with complaints that instead of easing the vehicular traffic on the congested roads and at chowks and rotaries, it created more complicacies and resulted in huge traffic jams. Why it happened so is what the traffic police alone can explain. It is said that the traffic police decided to put the signals on blinkers, by making experiment with eight signals and then shifted entire system to blinkers. That was the beginning of the collapse of a system on which an amount of nearly 2 crore rupees has been spent.
The Traffic Department said that the decision to shift to the blinkers was necessitated by digging the roads under sewerage and drainage laying scheme for the city. It came to light that there were several departments involved in the matter of installing traffic signals. Absence of cooperation among the concerned departments has resulted in shutting down the system. This exposes the inefficiency of the concerned officials. Why were not the pre-requisites met before the expensive project was taken in hand? There seems no sense of responsibility and total absence of coordination at various levels. We are told that owing to great fluctuation in electric power and also intermittent power cuts, the traffic signals cannot maintain regular output and the signals go weak and out of use. This is a sordid state of affairs. Why have not the concerned officials given a serious thought to the question whether we have the requisite infrastructure to sustain the signal system? Somebody at the helm of affairs should have anticipated all the eventualities before the project was cleared.
It is also a fact that drivers of public or private vehicles are very little acquainted with traffic rules. Even if they are conversant with the rules, they have the tendency of violating them and thus creating a situation in which traffic jams happen at hours on end. It should have been part of the strategy to educate illiterate drivers on the proper use of signal lights. Everybody is in haste and everybody wants to put a shortcut into service. Our roads are narrow and devoid of capacity to cater to the volume of traffic. Why the traffic police say that the signals have created more chaos instead of reducing it? This statement cannot be accepted because Jammu is not the only city in the country where the system has been made operative. If it did not fail there, why should the traffic police put forth a weak argument to support their option of shifting the signals to blinkers? This is a serious matter and should be investigated into. Why have the community of drivers of private and public vehicles become so cynical as to violate the traffic signals out of their free will. One can say that lack of accountability on the part of the traffic police encourages the private drivers to violate the rules. Even when for a few days the signals worked, we rare would see a traffic policeman round the corner to take note of violation of traffic signal rules and impose heavy fine there and then.
We regret to note that traffic culture is abysmally rotten in the state. It is an ordeal to become a commuter of public transport in the city of Jammu. Traffic congestion, deafening music played by mini buses, emission of carbon in huge volumes, overtaking, reckless driving, fake licenses, outmoded buses, cramped seats, overcrowding, traffic jams and above all arrogance of the drivers and conductors all are the woes heaped on the head of the commuter. We have in these columns repeatedly said that Jammu city is choked with crowded traffic and environment and noise pollution. But the Government is totally negligent of its responsibility. Jammu city is bursting on the seams and one is shocked to imagine what the condition of the city traffic and roads and maintenance will be in next half a decade if things are not improved now.
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