Latest News For 'Delhi Traffic News'
May 16th, 2007
New Delhi: Your wallet will get much lighter if you are a reckless driver. The government hopes to put the brakes on indisciplined driving across the country by imposing stiff penalties. And for the purpose, it brought a Bill in Parliament on Tuesday that proposes to raise fines and penalties while providing a high compensation package for victims of road accidents.
Delhi drivers need to be particularly careful as they will have to pay more than others. The city will have the highest penalties for traffic violations as Delhi High Court has mandated an across-the-board Rs 500 fine in addition to the hiked fines provided for under the Motor Vehicles Act.
This Act is now sought to be amended. Road transport minister T R Baalu has tabled the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2007, which proposes the following: While speeding could cost you Rs 400-Rs 1,000 (with a doubling of the fine for repeat violators), drunken driving could get your licence suspended for 3 months besides imprisonment of 6 months and a fine of Rs 2,000 for the first offence. A second offence could lead to imprisonment for up to 2 years or fine of Rs 2,000 or both.
Under-age driving would be slapped with a fine of Rs 1,000 and imprisonment of up to 3 months for the first offence and Rs 2,000 for a subsequent offence. Vehicles found plying without registration papers would face a hefty fine of up to Rs 10,000 for the first offence and a maximum of Rs 20,000 for a repeat offence.
The proposed legislation also authorises state governments to compound the fines if required. With an increase in the number of hit-and-run accidents, the government plans to hike accident compensation to Rs 1 lakh for death and Rs 50,000 for partial disability. The bill envisages setting up of a solatium fund for compensation to accident victims.
According to a World Bank and WHO report, more than 1.2 million people die in road crashes globally every year, of which around 92,000 deaths occur in India.
Source: TOI(Delhi epaper)
May 11th, 2007
New Delhi: Steer clear of central Delhi roads on Friday morning. Major traffic restrictions will be put in place around the historic Red Fort on Friday where several VVIPs, including the President, Prime Minister, Vice-president, important political leaders, MPs, ministers and diplomats, will gather to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 1857 Uprising.
About 40,000 youths will start their march to the Red Fort around 4 am from their camp on the banks of river Yamuna. They will move through Ring Road, Hanuman Setu, Chowk Chhata Rail and Chandni Chowk and are expected to cover the two-km distance in about an hour.
The VIPs will come in and take their seats by 7 am and are scheduled to move out at 8.30 am. The area around Red Fort, including Netaji Subhash Marg, Lothian Road, SPM Marg, Chandni Chowk, New Daryaganj Road and Link Road, will remain closed from 4 am to 10 am. Old Yamuna bridge, Hanuman Setu and Kela Ghat road will also be closed. Commercial traffic will not be allowed to enter Delhi and bus routes will be diverted. The police expect trouble around Red Fort and Rajghat around 10 am, when the youth will march back to the camp. They will disperse from there for various railway stations post lunch by specially designated buses.
Several trains will be diverted on Friday. The diversions will be in effect from 6.45 am to 8.45 am. The affected trains include Azamgarh-Delhi Kafiyat Express, Dehradun-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Mussorie Express, Saharanpur-Delhi passenger, Khurja-Delhi EMU, Shamli-Delhi EMU, Aligarh-Delhi EMU, Muzaffarnagar-Delhi EMU, Delhi-Kotdwar Express, Bandra Terminus-Dehradun Express, Delhi Junction-Ghaziabad EMU, Kalka-Howrah-Kalka Mail, Lalgarh-Guwahati Avadh Assam Express and Mathura-Ghaziabad EMU.
Schools and banks will remain closed, though representatives from market associations clarified that shops will remain open. Only Chandni Chowk will be closed.
Source: TOI(Delhi epaper)
May 10th, 2007
New Delhi: With over 2,20,000 vehicles passing through Rajghat and Shanti Van crossings on Ring Road each day, driving down the stretch especially during peak hours has become a nightmarish experience. To make matters worse, a new bridge being constructed across river Yamuna at Geeta Colony will add about 47,000 additional vehicles to the road.
Now, a new traffic plan has been drawn up to ease the traffic mess — authorities have now proposed to close a section of Ring Road near the samadhis and divert all traffic on to an inner road. A flyover and grade separator have been planned at the intersection of the new road with the Geeta Colony bridge, in an attempt to make movement of vehicles in all directions signal-free.
The new plan has been designed keeping in mind frequent VIP movement at Rajghat. A senior traffic official explained: ‘‘Traffic snarls are a regular sight in the Rajghat area, especially during peak hours. The area also attracts heavy VIP traffic which only aggravates the situation. The ripple effect can be felt till ITO, Delhi Gate, ISBT and sometimes even up to India Gate.’’
It has been proposed that traffic moving between north and south Delhi be diverted on to an inner road. The main Ring Road will be open for local traffic, headed to the Walled City via Daryaganj.
The stretch between Rajghat crossing and the foot of the Hanuman Setu flyover will be partially closed for traffic.
Vehicles will be diverted behind the samadhis — the road will meet Ring Road at two ends near Rajghat crossing and behind Salimgarh Fort. A grade separator, with four clover leaves and four slip roads, has been planned at the intersection of the new road with existing roads heading towards Shanti Van crossing and Geeta Colony bridge.
‘‘All vehicles wanting to take a right turn will get on to the flyover and take the loops while those turning left can use the slip roads. Movement in all directions will be signal-free,’’ sources said. One-way movement of traffic has been proposed around Salimgarh Fort as the roads there are not wide enough to take the traffic load.
Traffic movement will be also be resigned to make the main Rajghat and free. It has also been proposed that this plan be integrated with others made for the area ahead of the Commonwealth Games, to ensure that there is no conflict.
The plan sure seems promising. ‘‘It takes care of heavy VIP movement at the samadhis. Once all the vehicles are using another road, arrangements for VVIPs will not disrupt normal traffic. Further, the road stretch near Salimgarh Fort is just a four-lane road as against the rest of the six-laned Ring Road. This can’t be widened as there are monuments on both sides.
The bottleneck will also be tackled,’’ sources said. The new plan has been drawn up by the PWD and is awaiting approvals by stakeholders including Delhi Traffic Police, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) technical committee, Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) and Yamuna Committee.
But the government agencies don’t have too much time at their hands to find a solution to the traffic problems, considering the new river bridge will be operational in about a year’s time. The river bridge, connected to a flyover, will connect Geeta Colony in east Delhi with Ring Road at Shanti Van and bring an additional 47,000 vehicles to the Shanti Van crossing by the year 2010, a traffic survey indicated.
Source: TOI(Delhi epaper)
May 10th, 2007
New Delhi: As 40,000 youths march into Delhi from Apsara border on Friday morning to mark the 150th anniversary of the historic 1857 uprising, traffic on GT Road in northeast Delhi will be disrupted for about six hours.
Major restrictions have imposed for Friday morning as well when a grand function has been planned at Red Fort, which will be attended by
VVIPs including the President, Prime Minister, Vice President, important political leaders, MPs, ministers, diplomats, and selected delegates from neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
On Thursday, the contingent is scheduled to enter Delhi around 7 am, from where they will walk to a camp made for them on the banks of river Yamuna behind the electric crematorium at Nigambodh Ghat. Till they traverse the 10-odd kilometre stretch, one carriageway of GT road along Shahdara and Seelampur, through the old metal river bridge across Yamuna will remain out of bounds for traffic. The disruption is scheduled to last about five hours.
‘‘Geeta Colony pontoon bridge and the Shahdara-ISBT flyover will remain open but traffic will not be allowed to go towards Pushta. Motorists are advised to avoid GT Road in the morning,’’ said HPS Virk, Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic), northern range.
A light and sound show has been organised at National Stadium in the evening. The traffic police has advised motorists to avoid India Gate between 5 pm and 10 pm. Bus routes have also been diverted from Mathura Road.
Around 4 am on Friday, the youths will walk to Red Fort from the camp through Ring Road, Hanuman Setu, Chowk Chhata Rail and Chowk Chandni Chowk. They are expected to cover the two km distance in about an hour. The VIPs will come in and take their seats by 7 am and will move out at 8.30 am — the VIP movement is expected to affect traffic in central Delhi.
Roads around Red Fort, including Netaji Subhash Marg, Lothian Road, SPM Marg, Chandni Chowk, New Daryaganj Road and Link Road will remain closed from 4 am to 10 am. Old Yamuna bridge, Hanuman Setu and Kela Ghat road will also be closed. Commercial traffic will not be allowed to enter Delhi and buses will be diverted. After the function, the youth will march back to the camp by 10 am and disperse from their by buses.
Source: TOI(Delhi epaper)
May 7th, 2007
New Delhi: If you thought that the city’s flyovers offer you an ultimate driving experience and a smooth passage over the congested roads, you might have overlooked the numerous bumps that your car negotiates on the overbridges.
The flyovers, especially the older ones constructed during early 80s for the Asian Games, are literally feeling the heat and have developed speed braker-like bumps, generally referred to as expansion joints by engineers.
As mercury soars, the slabs made of steel and concrete expand resulting in the formation of expansion joints. ‘‘The coefficient of expansion of steel is different from that of concrete. The joints are caused by this problem of difference between the two materials and it aggravates with fatigue,’’ said R Subramanian, engineer-in-chief, PWD.
The problem is more with the earlier flyovers because, experts say, they have higher number of joints as the slab on each pear is a separate unit. However, with technological advancements, the recently constructed designs have fewer joints.
Maintenance would have solved the problem. Subramanian says that the shelf life of flyovers is 50-75 years and that of movable parts is lesser — about 15 years — and they need quick replacement.
An expert, who didn’t wish to be quoted, said annual maintenance of flyovers is crucial. ‘‘While markings need to be done each year, there is need to service expansion joints every 3-5 years. Even pavements need to be refurbished every 10 years,’’ the expert said, adding that such problems arise only because of lack of maintenance.
Subramanian added that the agency has started maintenance work on all the ageing flyovers and the joints are being repaired. ‘‘We are using strip seal joints to correct the problem and work has already begun on some flyovers like Hanuman Setu on Ring Road and ITO flyovers. Others include Oberoi, Defence Colony, Moolchand and Lodhi flyovers,’’ he said.
Another similar condition which causes traffic to slow down on the flyovers is “pronounced valley curve”. When one gets on to the flyover near Central School on JB Tito Marg, for instance, there is a sudden dip and then a steep upward slope which causes a bump. ‘‘This can be due to several reasons — lack of space, a flaw in construction, or simply a jerky transition between the flat road and angular flyover ramp. But with advanced machinery and construction methods, it is not very difficult to overcome these,’’ the expert added.
Source: TOI(Delhi epaper)
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