Managing the traffic mayhem

A common feature among all Indian cities is the utter disregard shown by road users for traffic rules, and a poor track record of road safety as a consequence. All cities are witnessing a rise in vehicles on roads and are adding significantly to the existing vehicle population. While the roads are not getting wider by the day, there is hardly any dedicated facility for pedestrians and cyclists on Indian roads. According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) study, nearly 1,300,000 people die due to road accidents globally every year, while 50 million get injured every single day! In fact, road accidents are the most common cause of death for people in the age group of 15 to 45, in most countries. It is estimated that if the present trends are not checked, then by 2020, road accidents would be the third biggest cause of death globally — a scary scenario definitely!

It is important to note that cities like Paris, London, New York, and Singapore record far less accidents than cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru etc. In Indian cities, more than 70% vehicles are two-wheelers and motorised vehicles are a major cause of most accidents. Non-motorised users such as cyclists and pedestrians suffer the most at the hands of motorists. Half the accident victims are helpless pedestrians.

In this alarming scenario, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that there is no single authority in-charge of the roads nor is there a single authority with the necessary mandate to control accidents. In a city like Ahmedabad, there are two authorities in-charge of road management. The municipal corporation designs and constructs roads and bridges, and maintains these along with providing necessary traffic hardware like traffic signals etc. The civic body also designates parking places and regulates street vending. The traffic police, on the other hand, are required to manage and regulate traffic on the roads and enforce various traffic laws. Then, there are sundry utilities like the gas, electricity, cables and several such agencies that need to use the public roads for their operations.

One can notice a tremendous disconnect among all these parties. When the police investigate an accident, the civic body does not get details about the flaws in the design aspects or construction-related issues of the traffic hardware, in order to enable them to take corrective steps. Similarly, the traffic police keep requesting the civic body for better traffic infrastructure, and the interaction between the two is seldom satisfactory.

Then, there are other issues like lack of trained manpower with both the traffic police and the civic body, to do better traffic planning and management. Both agencies seem more concerned with the smooth flow of motorised transport rather than the safety and ease of non-motorised transport. Based on past accidents and mishaps on the roads, there is no database for both the agencies to learn and take corrective actions. Also, we do not have road safety audits before planning new roads nor do we have road safety inspections by qualified experts to evaluate the safety of existing roads.

Usually in most cities abroad, both the traffic planning and enforcement agencies are under the control of the civic body for better synergy, and response. In India, with strong local bodies in Gujarat and Maharashtra, maybe we can do some experiments of bringing both the agencies under a single civic body roof in cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Pune and Mumbai.

The author is municipal commissioner of Ahmedabad