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Project Decongestion

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DQI Bureau
New Update

Traffic-clogged Mumbai means big business for beggars and eunuchs. From Harry

Potter books to mineral water bottles and from flowers to newspapers, it does

mean brisk business for an array of commodities. However, a traffic jam in

Mumbai means a nightmare for the commuter.

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The unofficial vendors, however, may lose business soon, what with the Mumbai

Traffic Police’ plans to launch Area Traffic Control (ATC) project. The

project is aimed at streamlining traffic in the city, which boasts of a daily

flow of more than 10 lakh vehicles every day. The Mumbai metropolitan regional

development department is pumping money into the project to be launched in March

2002.

Another Rs 65 crore will come from the World Bank once the project is

approved. Test runs will be conducted in the initial year and a half of the

project.

K T Phadtare, project in charge and superintending engineer informs that it

took a year for the project to take the present shape. "The aim of the

project is to smoothen traffic, reduce delays and identify loopholes in the

traffic system" he explains.

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To be covered in three phases, the first phase would connect 55 junctions

with optic fibers and at around 15 junctions CCTV cameras would be installed to

provide visual aid to the centrally located monitoring system at the

headquarters. Should the authorities get favorable results, the project will be

extended to the next 250 junctions to be funded by the World Bank.

Phadtare admits that the present traffic signals are not able to recognize

the density of traffic and tend to function uniformly irrespective of the

traffic volume. This happens as the traffic signals are manually programmed

based on old traffic data, thereby resulting in delay and congestion. At

present, the waiting time at junctions varies from 20 to 60 seconds depending on

the traffic. The ATC project would result in a 15-20% cut in the waiting time

thus enhancing the speed of the vehicle and reducing delays.

The ATC project promises to usher in advance technology using optic fibers

and the latest light signals based on state of the art technology. These

advanced technique signals will be similar to the present signals except for

technical differences. These are said to identify traffic volumes and act

accordingly. Phadtare explains, "Sensors would be fitted in each lane on

the road, which will detect the volume of traffic and thus automatically

determine the time of the green signal. The optic fibers would provide

connectivity to help the flow of information of traffic data from the junctions.’’

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"Tenders will be floated in the market for global players within the

next few months," adds Phadtare.

The project is being implemented in co-ordination with the municipality and

the public works department in Mumbai so that the reconstruction of the roads

can be done wherever needed.

If project ATC takes off, it will be the first of its kind in India, and a

traffic model worth following.

Rashida Bakait/CNS in Mumbai

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