This is a guest post by a friend who only wishes to be known as prankS. The issues raised by him are very valid and merit attention. Take a note.

Just look at the way the people of Delhi drive. I know a lot of people will get sentimental about this but it’s a fact that Delhiites have no driving sense whatsoever. They have to rush into whatever space there is whether it’s correct or not does not matter to them. Since we are a country which has a left hand drive a left turn is generally free on most of the crossings. But Delhiites just don’t mind blocking the free turning spot while waiting at a red light. It just doesn’t occur to them that they’re blocking some one’s way.

Another issue is that of lane driving. Lane driving? What’s that? This is exactly the answer of a typical Delhiite when you ask them about this. They switch from one lane to another like crazy. In fact if there are three lanes on the road you are sure to find four to five vehicles squeezed into this space just about hugging each other. And this is the basic reason why the number of accidents in Delhi is so high. Things are so bad that you’ll hardly find any car which does not have scratches or marks on them, be it a Honda, Audi or even a Mercedes.

The worst offenders in the city are the auto and cab drivers, not to mention the private bus drivers. All these guys are in so much of a hurry to pick up more passengers and reach their destinations that they could not care less for safety of pedestrians and other drivers. I wonder how these guys get their licenses?

So much for Zebra crossing

And this brings us to our pedestrians who are no less of a threat on the roads of Delhi. Crossing a road is considered a birth right by most of these guys. They can cross the road from anywhere they feel like. Zebra crossings are just not required. To be fair actually, Zebra crossings are never available to them either because they are always covered with vehicles. But nonetheless, pedestrians do play havoc on the roads risking their own lives on most occasions. And now just have a look at this picture below.

Who is to be blamed for this? The govt or the travelers? I guess both. The govt for not providing enough means of transport and the travelers for letting the govt get away with this. Agreed that some measures like introducing the Delhi Metro have been taken. But it is just not enough. The Delhi Metro does not cover the entire city. And even where it is there it’s absolutely jam packed. It’s high time they added a extra bogey or two in every train.

Free left crossing is invariably blocked

To my mind there is only one solution to the current traffic chaos of the city: Outsource the darn thing. Yes, that’s right. Give traffic monitoring and marshaling to a private firm. Let them install cameras at every crossing which should be manned by at least three to four people. Whatever fines they collect can be their revenue. There will be some arguments between the commuters and these traffic marshals, in which case the camera recordings will come in handy. Let traffic marshals be deployed even at bus stops who can monitor the number of people boarding and traveling in any particular bus. Let these guys also be responsible for marking and putting up traffic signs in the city. Ads on these sign boards can be a means of earnings for these people.

Solutions are there for the taking. It’s just that that our dear politicians have to have the will to do it. They keep traveling overseas on taxpayers expenses where I’m sure they must have seen how well regulated the traffic is, especially in Europe. Why can’t they implement the same thing here in India? Quite frankly, I’ve no idea at all. They may claim that they are trying but no, I’m not convinced. They got to do much better than this.

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Posted on November 25th, 2009 India calling • Tags: chaos, death, delhi, problem, sense, solution, traffic. • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback