Hyderabad, March 09: One of chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy’s first promise to denizens was that traffic roadblocks would be eased by establishing technology-based traffic monitoring and regulation system, as part his 100-day plan to improve the city. But till now officials of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) have not been able to take up works as funds have not been allocated.
GHMC officials were expected to come up with a traffic monitoring system wherein traffic movement would be monitored from a specified control room and swift action taken to ease traffic whenever there was a jam or slow movement of traffic. The chief minister had said `10 crore would be sanctioned for the work. However, the government has still not released funds. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s meeting with traffic officials had also looked at repairing several non-functioning signal posts, which was another cause for traffic snarls.
There is also the view that the proposal did not take off because of the non-cooperation movement by employees in the GHMC and other government departments. Similar is the fate of junction improvements suggested by traffic police. Out of 60 junctions suggested, GHMC officials have completed just 15 junctions till date.
The chief minister had specifically stressed officials to take up steps to improve traffic movement. But he has failed to notice that a high-level committee meant for taking policy decisions about traffic problems, Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) has not convened a single meeting.
—Agencies