Hyderabad: Junctions have become one of the main reasons for traffic jams in the city. There are many junctions in the city where there are no traffic signals. Even when there are signals, many of them have no timers, and some of them are not clearly visible. There are around 221 traffic signals in Hyderabad, Rachakonda and Cyberabad areas, and 133 of them have timers. Some junctions like the Khairatabad are so busy, that officers are a must to operate it manually.
Traffic jams are also caused by drivers violating signals and coming in wrong directions. However, many traffic jams are due to the mere slowing down of traffic. The junctions are the places where the traffic is usually slowed down.
According to Anil Kumar, Additional Commissioner, Traffic, more signals and timers will help regulating the traffic. “Almost every day we receive complaints about timers not working. The timers stop working due to wire disconnection because of rains, power problems or road cutting. They are usually rectified within minutes, but sometimes it may take hours.” he said.
The signals are maintained by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and used by the traffic police. Kumar said that a proposal had been sent to the GHMC to add more than 50 pelican signals in the city. The total time for a signal at a junction is not more than 180 seconds. The signal time is divided based on the traffic a road receives.
The traffic signals were not capable of sensing traffic, said K. Vinod, Chief Functionary at the Indian Federation of Road Safety. Unlike Intelligent Traffic Signals, which were capable of turning the signal on and off by sensing the traffic, the city traffic signals followed a fixed timing. The traffic police operated them manually at some heavy traffic junctions, he said.
