Congestion drives city into a mess

CHANDIGARH: Though traffic congestion may have led to a drop in the number of accidents in Chandigarh, it has at the same time made driving a daily nightmare.
Most of the city roads remain choked with traffic throughout the day with the situation becoming worst during rush hours.
Kala Gram light point, Zirakpur barrier, entry point from the side of Mullanpur, Grain Market roundabout, Sector 26 and PGI roundabout are some of the chaotic traffic spots.
Experts say not only the multifold rise in the number of vehicles in Chandigarh but also those from neighbouring towns are adding to the congestion.
Chandigarh has the highest per capita number of vehicles and the city has seen a rise of vehicles from mere over 23,000 in 1974 to close to 10 lakh in 2014.
An indicator of how bad the problem has become are the newer traffic lights installed in the last couple of years at many roundabouts in the city, including the ones at Sector 32 roundabout, in front of Government Multi-specialty Hospital, Sector 16, and at Shanti Kunj.
Experts say the UT administration must work on a solution to improve the situation before it goes out of hand.
"The huge number of vehicles congests the roads. The administration should work on de-congesting by improving the public transport system," says Kamaljeet Sohi, a Ludhiana-based road safety expert.
The administration has been proposing a number of projects but there has been no change. The administration has also been planning to implement intelligent traffic management system on city roads and for this purpose, special traffic consultants are being engaged from Delhi and Bangalore.
A senior official attached with the road engineering wing of the UT told TOI, "Six-lane project between Chandigarh and Mullanpur has been started. The widening of road between New Grain market, Sector 39, to Mullanpur in Punjab has been proposed."
Traffic police officials maintain several proposals for curbing increasing traffic pressure are pending with the engineering wing. These include construction of underpasses and installations of new traffic lights among others.
Officiating SSP (traffic) Sukhchain Singh Gill said all necessary solutions are being worked out with UT administration for tackling the problem of traffic pressure.