Delhi needs to bump off traffic snarls to kill smog
Diwali 2016 won't be forgotten easily by Dilliwalas owing to the effect it left behind, as a thick blanket of smog still hangs over Delhi-NCR roads. The dense cover isn't winter fog, but a noxious mix of the gases released by burning crackers worth millions of rupees. We succeeded in smashing our previous unenviable records of pollution levels and, yet again, ensured Delhi attained the dubious distinction of being the most polluted city.
This came as a gift from the farmers of neighbouring states who were preparing their fields for the next harvest season and contributed about 20 per cent towards air pollution in the capital.
We took note as though something unexpected had happened and began holding meetings with ministers. This was followed by some dressing down by a tribunal, which is of the view that defaulting vehicles endangering pollution can be permitted to do so if they pay certain amount of tax!
We are soon going to see a sequel of the odd-even campaign started by our mercurial government. While the odd-even rule may not have much impact on controlling pollution, it helps in the smooth movement of vehicles, which translates to less congestion and lowered emissions on overcrowded roads.
Streamlining traffic through congestion management and regulation of the timings of schools, colleges, offices and other establishments is also necessary.
In the present age of available means of interface, we need to rise above the nine-to-five mindset. The population floats from one end to the other during the peak hours, resulting in rush and jams in all kinds of transport modes because of limited road capacity and high vehicle density. We must increase the capacity by staggering timings for different areas, starting from say 8am to 12 noon and blocking vehicles between say 4pm and 8pm - leaving sufficient time for commute.
Some of the offices could even operate with night shifts. This requires coordination and planning by inter and intra departments, organisations and ministries. Holidays could also be fixed on different days of the week instead of a standard weekend.
Another nightmare for motorists negotiating flyovers and narrow stretches is stranded vehicles choking lanes, inviting stares and expletives.
The helpless driver awaits for recovery to arrive, which may take anything up to an hour or so, while the traffic gets thrown out of gear.
This problem can be addressed if it is made mandatory for all vehicles to carry tow chains and rods as essential accessories. It should be made incumbent for cars, load carriers and buses to extend assistance in towing away stranded vehicles to the nearest available space, thus allowing early restoration of normal flow of traffic. It needs social understanding and participative responsibility on our part to extend road side assistance.
The NCR region and major cities also need to devise a system of realtime broadcast on traffic conditions on major roads, link roads and diversions to enable the users choose their route and timings, as well as avoid using traffic heavy routes.
An automated signal system like the one used by railways can be installed along major and prominent roads to share traffic updates along next two-three segments of the routes, similar to navigation on Google Maps.
For example, a motorist commuting from IGI airport, Delhi should be able to know and decide whether to take Rao Tula Ram road head in the direction of Dhaula Kuan. The traffic-related information can also be displayed on LED systems.
Such measures will enhance road capacity; enabling uniform, regulated, evenly distributed and well-managed traffic will prove a major factor in addressing the pollution arising from unregulated traffic.
Indeed, only a PPPPPP model, including the public, planners, police, policymakers, politicians and patience, along with participative cooperation and responsibility for reducing pollution attributed to traffic related factors will work in the long run.