Mumbai: As traffic burgeons, movable traffic signals gather dust

Defunct moveable traffic signal in Jogeshwari on Thursday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

In 2017, the Mumbai traffic division, in a bid to decongest the city's roads, introduced traffic signals on wheels. However, most of these devices have been out of commission for a while, mid-day has learnt. When this reporter visited Jogeshwari traffic chowkie, he saw a movable traffic signal in a deplorable condition. Not only was it coated in dust and cobwebbed but a shrine had also been attached to it, pointing to the fact that it hadn't served its purpose for months.

"The signals on wheels could be rolled into areas where there was no scope or need to install permanent signals, but which required traffic regulation during certain times, dates or events," said a retired traffic policeman, requesting anonymity. Another senior retired traffic official added, "Initially, they were very useful. Mumbai was not the first city to have signals on wheels. In 2011, Chennai had introduced them as the city was facing power supply issues, because of which traffic signals had stopped functioning, leading to chaos on the roads."

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‘Not used anywhere in city'
Traffic PI Mahesh Girme, who is in charge of the Jogeshwari traffic chowkie, said, "According to my knowledge, these signals are not being used anywhere in Mumbai. We generally have to manually operate regular traffic signals during peak hours to manage traffic. If such things exist in Mumbai, I would have demanded that they be used during peak traffic hours."

Asked about the movable traffic signal lying in the backyard of the Jogeshwari traffic chowkie, the traffic PI, shockingly, was not even aware of such a thing being kept in his custody. Another traffic policeman from the Jogeshwari traffic chowkie said, "Maintaining movable signals was a tremendous task. Over time, the traffic police stopped using them." He added, "Using manual signals was found out to be more effective in many cases where traffic needed to be diverted due to construction or road maintenance work."

Expert Speak
Traffic expert A V Shenoy of Mumbai Mobility Forum said, "If movable signals are not being used, the traffic cops have to find out the possible reasons and make sure that they are not kept lying around. If there are technical difficulties like the time duration of the signals not being adequate to make sure that the traffic is not congested, the signals need to be recalibrated according to the required time or manually operated by traffic personnel disabling the timer. If there are maintenance issues, contractors should be appointed by the traffic division so that the signals are well maintained. The root cause needs to be analysed and troubleshooted in depth."

Another traffic expert said, "Taxpayers' money should not be used for things that are not going to be used after some time. The need for movable traffic signals during peak hours is increasing by the day as the number of vehicles hitting the road is increasing. During peak hours, these signals would have proven to be a boon if they had been properly maintained and used at the right locations."
Pravinkumar Padwal, JCP (traffic), was unable for comment.

2011
Year movable signals were introduced in Chennai