Chandigarh, January 13: To review the important road safety issues for better traffic management in the city, the first meeting of State Level Road Safety Council was convened today. It was chaired by the Advisor to the Administrator, UT, Chandigarh, Mr Pradip Mehra and was attended by senior officers of the UT Administration, MC and the Chandigarh Police. Also present were representative from Road Safety NGO, Traffic Awareness Group, Krishna Automobiles and Punjab and Haryana Bar Association, Chandigarh.
The suggestions that came forth from members of the State Level Road Safety Council included introduction of entry tax in Chandigarh (5% to 6%), check on the unauthorized movement of trucks, tourist buses, taxis on the narrow road between Khuda Ali Sher and Kaimbwala to save passenger tax etc, proper provision of slip roads before traffic lights/crossings, construction of railway over bridge on Railway Crossing near Vikas Nagar which is the main cause of traffic chaos on this link No. 2. It was decided that for the time being, road near Vikas Nagar railway crossing be widened both sides to avoid traffic jams on this busy railway crossing.
The members suggested that the encroachment of slip road by the TSR drivers at Attawa Chowk needs to be removed immediately. It was decided that concrete steps should be taken to ensure proper provision of slip roads at roundabout besides providing proper lighting arrangement at cycle tracks, provision of proper road signs, lane markings, etc which would be done by the Engineering Department.
It was further decided to introduce Area Traffic Control System on the lines of the Delhi Police. The other submissions included strict enforcement for rash and drunk driving, punching of Driving License if offense was repeated five times. It was also suggested that to curb drunk driving, checkings should be carried out by the local police at the exit point of pubs, clubs and hotels etc. Suggestions that were mooted at the meeting included fixing of office timings of Punjab, Haryana and UT employees and construction of fly over on railway line from Garcha turn to road already constructed upto railway colony from Panchkula side. Widening of road from Kaimbwala turn to Village Kaimbwala connecting Mansa Devi and Panchkula was also suggested.
The Adviser informed the members that all the discussed suggestions will be examined by the Chandigarh Administration and implemented on priority.
Those who were present included Home Secretary Ram Niwas , the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation Roshan Sunkaria, Deputy Commissioner, Brijender Singh, Joint Secretary (Home) Abhishek Dev, Chief Architect, Sumit Kaur, Chief Engineer SK Jaitley, the Secretary, State Transport Authority, Mahavir Kaushik besides Chief Engineer, Municipal Corporation, Superintendent of Police/Traffic & Security.
