It’s a week since the Chennai Traffic Police introduced a new traffic arrangement, on a trial basis, to de-congest a stretch of OMR, especially near Tidel Park. There are indications that this arrangement has passed muster, at least on the official side. While the Department seems keen on according permanence to this arrangement, residents of a few localities in the region, especially those of Kanagam, have given it a thumbs-down.
When I meet Prem Anand Sinha, Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic (south), on the sidelines of a constable recruitment drive at Rajarathinam Stadium in Egmore, to seek his views on the matter, I notice him alternating between two social networking sites — Twitter (‘ChennaiTrafficAlert’) and the department’s Facebook page — to gauge the feedback of motorists about the arrangement.
The official, who has previously served as Joint Commissioner of Police (north), answers questions about this development and other traffic issues.
n What has been the response to the trail arrangement?
Expect for a small section of people in Kanagam, for whom the new arrangement involves taking a circuitous route, the feedback has been positive. I agree with them. Based on the feedback from these residents, we removed the barricade leading to CSIR Road. Now, motorists can travel on CSIR Road and reach OMR to proceed to Thiruvanmiyur. The trail arrangement introduced on July 28 is among the measures being taken to study patterns in the flow of traffic. We are also studying various other stretches where traffic jams are frequent.
n How can you say the new arrangement has reduced bottlenecks?
My team has said that the waiting period at CSIR Road junction and SRP Tools junction has reduced considerably. I agree service lanes are supposed to be two-way, but keeping the interests of the larger population, the Tidel Park management supported the move to have this new arrangement. According to this arrangement, vehicles coming from SRP Tools take the service lane to reach the IT companies on the stretch and beyond.
n Hasn’t the traffic bottleneck now shifted to the intersection of Madhya Kailash and SRP Tools?
Yes, we have to work out a system to deal with this side-effect. Our men have to be on their toes to make sure there are minimal blocks. A cut at Indira Nagar would have helped ease traffic congestion involving vehicles coming from Madhya Kailash, but TNRDC (Tamil Nadu Road Development Company) has set its face against this idea. The Perungudi toll plaza is also adding to the traffic congestion. We had suggested that one bay be used for RFID-based vehicles, and money be collected from waiting vehicles.
nIs the traffic police looking at increasing their social media presence?
Our Twitter account (ChennaiTrafficAlert) is a little over a month-old and we currently have 1,200 followers, while our Facebook page has over 83,000 followers. We have a dedicated team replying to comments. I monitor every comment. We are keen on reaching out to people. My team has to give a written reply to complaints from citizens. We have also started acknowledging comments, but we do block people who distract us.
n Many traffic signals are defunct?
Fifty-six traffic signals became defunct after cyclone Vardah (the city has 380 signals). A majority of these signals are now in working order. Additionally, 25 new signals with timers will come up soon.
Response of a commuter to the new arrangement on Pg 4
