Date:07/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/07/stories/2008110758740200.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Back to the manual days of traffic signalling

Staff Reporter

Owing to regular power cuts, constables are on their toes at key intersections

— Photo: S.S.Kumar

Free for all: With no power supply for the traffic signals and in the absence of a traffic policeman, motorists find it difficult to negotiate important junctions.

CHENNAI: It is back to manual signal at important traffic junctions as scheduled power cuts have become the order of the day.

A traffic constable on Kamarajar Salai said during rush hour it was really difficult to manually control the traffic. “With traffic signals around, a lot of constables have got used to monitoring the traffic by standing in one corner of the road. Now that’s not possible,” he said. He added that with the increase in the number of vehicles, managing the traffic was a big challenge.

Major traffic intersections such as those on E.V.R.Salai, Sardar Patel Road, Poonamallee High Road and Saidapet are facing regular power cuts which are keeping the traffic constables on their toes.

But it is not the case everywhere as at the G.N.Chetty Road junction, near the Anna Flyover, on Thursday afternoon neither the traffic signal worked nor a constable was available to oversee the junction. The situation caused considerable confusion among motorists. K.Sharath who was trying to take a right turn at the junction to go to Nungambakkam said with people turning as they pleased, the traffic coming straight down had a lot of problem.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sunil Kumar told The Hindu “the new traffic signals being installed in the city would come with an inverter and have sufficient power back-up,” he said.

Cable fault

However, at the Music Academy signal it is not power cut but a cable fault that has kept the signal from working for over four months. Now, two traffic constables are engaged to handle the situation here. A traffic police officer attached to the Royapettah police station said when road widening work was taken up by the Corporation, the cables were removed. He added that the problem would be set right in a week.