I received a fax from Sanjay Bahal who is a transport planner himself. He demands that the road connecting vegetable market (choti subzi mandi) in Tilak Nagar to outer Ring Road, Vikaspuri a no entry zone for heavy commercial vehicles.

He says, “The above-mentioned road is an inner colony road of Tilak Nagar. But what happens is that heavy vehicles like trucks, etc. use this colony road, which is not wide enough, as a bye-pass road for going towards Rohtak, Ferozepur, etc.”

“Now this is a colony road and due to these trucks plying on this road, lot of traffic congestion is experienced here. Even pollution generally remains high here and it has also become a safety issue for senior citizens and kids. These vehicles are driven at a very high speed and after 9 pm life is hell for us. We need a respite from this.

“I just request you to study the problem here and highlight it in your paper. This road should be made a 24-hour No Entry Zone for commercial MMVs and HMVs. Vehicles like Mahindra pickups; etc can be used for loading and unloading purposes for the shopkeepers here. The same vehicle instead of coming back can be asked to proceed towards District Centre, Janakpuri and then can be diverted towards Outer Ring Road for their native destination. If it is done the colony people will feel much safer and will restore peace and tranquillity.”

I just hope the Delhi Traffic Police will take note of this and I hope they work on an action plan keeping in mind your advice. Meanwhile, Pallavi Malhotra mailed me saying, “I don’t know if it’s only me or have others noted this too but why is it that free left turns are never actually free. Even the traffic cops are really not concerned about enforcing lane discipline on these turns so that vehicles turning left get a free way. If they did, there might be less traffic at the signals. And also why is it that the car on extreme right always wants to take the left turn and vice versa?”

Yesterday only I was speaking to HPS Virk, DCP (Traffic/North). He told me that people do zig-zag driving because they are impatient and want to reach their destinations as soon as possible. Actually he felt that habits of Delhiites are changing with times. In this fast-paced world, none has time to be patient. So I feel that patience should be the buzz word when you drive.