Lack of coordination between AMC, traffic cops leads to chaos

AMC did not keep traffic police in the loop while building a three-foot-wide divider on the stretch from Navrangpura crossing to Mithakhali crossroads

Be it lack of co-ordination or miscommunication between Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and traffic police, it is the people who have been at the receiving end due to the chaos arising out of it.

The lack of co-ordination was once again highlighted when hundreds of commuters were stranded in heavy rain near Helmet circle on Sunday evening. Without any prior notice, the flyover on the circle was shut for almost two hours, resulting in a massive traffic jam as commuters could not use the overpass.

When the issue was raised with the traffic police by DNA, traffic police inspector P R Patel said: “I did not know that the flyover was closed. Had it been done by us, I would certainly have known.”

“Due to resurfacing of the flyover road, we had asked the traffic police to close the road. So, they shut it down,” said an AMC official. “They neither informed us nor took our permission to close the road and start work,” said R S Sindhi, assistant commissioner of police, traffic.


“It is not at all true that AMC officials consulted us while closing down the road. I have told them not to repeat such acts in future,” said D H Parmar, deputy commissioner of police, traffic.

Besides, Sindhi also expressed concern over AMC’s model road project from Mithakhali crossroad to Navrangpura police station. A week ago, that stretch, too, witnessed a huge jam during the rain.

According to Sindhi, the AMC did not keep the traffic police in the loop while building a three-foot-wide divider on the road. “I asked the engineer to keep the width under two feet and also not to stretch the divider up to the police station for the convenience of commuters,” claimed Sindhi. “But my recommendations went unheeded. That is why jams are happening frequently there,” he added.

Municipal commissioner Guruprasad Mohapatra said: “I have learned that the resurfacing contractor himself took the decision to commence work at the flyover without informing traffic police. We will now hold regular meetings with the traffic police to avoid such issues in future.”