I received a call from S.M. Hussain who is a resident of Surajkund. He says, “The Container Corporation of India is heart of Tughlaqabad. As a result hundreds of containers and trolleys are stationed all along the road of Tughlaqabad. These trolleys and containers are a big nuisance as they hamper smooth traffic flow on the Mehrauli - Badarpur Road. During peak hours, the traffic movement almost comes to a standstill because of these containers. “Often these trailers turn turtle on the road either killing pedestrians as well as blocking traffic. Many accidents have also taken place because of the wrongly parked trailers on the roadside.“People these days are avoiding Badarpur border because of the traffic jams there. People coming from Badarpur are nowadays taking a detour from either Suraj Apartments side or from the road, which goes through the shooting range.Thus Mehrauli - Badarpur Road has become a major link between Delhi and Faridabad, as it is the only alternative to Badarpur border. The traffic flow has thus increased on this road also and there is a huge flow of traffic day and night. But there is no cop to regulate traffic at Tughlaqabad. “Moreover, adjacent to Tughlaqabad, there is a township called Eros Garden with over 2000 families and Suraj Apartments. The residents of these apartments find it difficult to drive and are always at risk. My ultimate request is to shift the Container Corporation of India from Tughlaqabad and save the residents. The authorities concerned should look into the matter.”Shifting of the Container Corporation of India is a contentious issue but traffic police should definitely out its act together and start prosecuting the parked trailers as well as trucks on the roadside.

One more caller called after reading about Badarpur border’s problem published in my column yesterday. Advocate Chaman Prakash called me to say that police is to be blamed for all that mess happening at Badarpur Border. He says, “Behind Shahi Masjid, there’s a bus stop and the traffic police should regulate them. These buses keep on standing there for a long time blocking the traffic on the road and also increasing congestion. Same position is there on Jaitpur Mode too. RTVs keep on standing there waiting for passengers leading to congestion. The traffic cops say nothing to them. If these two things are checked, it will ease traffic flow.”According to Delhi Traffic Police’s website, there is restriction on movement of heavy vehicles from 7.30 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 9.30 pm on Mathura Road from Central Road Research Institute to Badarpur border. But Chaman claims, “Cops allow these trucks to move even during the restriction time. This rule should be applied in stricter manner. Another point is that cops are present only during jams otherwise they are not present. Their presence only can check the building up of the jam there.” I think that restriction time in the evening should increase till 11 pm on all borders. Another call that I got was from Noida. Anubhav says, “I live in VSNL apartments in Sector 62, Noida. The vehicles move very fast in front of our colony. Yesterday (Monday), also there was an accident involving a pedestrian and a vehicle. The person just escaped with injuries. Like this there are frequent accidents on this road. Something should be done to check the speed of the vehicles.”I think that Noida traffic police should propose to construct a speed breaker there. This will check the speeding vehicles there. Another problem that is gripping Noida is the call centre Qualises and Sumos. Call centres are bustling in Noida and so are the numbers of their service vehicles. In fact Ronit called me from Noida to say that due to these fast moving vehicles, accidents have increased. Noida traffic police should check them as it is done in Delhi.

Recently I got a book titled “Safe Driving – The driving manual and rules of the road” published by Hubert Ebner which is an Indo-Austrian joint venture established to develop the infrastructure of driver training systems in India. Their academy is at Chirag Enclave, where they impart training to driving instructors and post license drivers. It is one of the best driving manuals, which I recommend any driver should go through before hitting the roads. This book has been especially written with reference to Indian context where the modes of transport vary from a bullock cart and tractors to vrooming sports cars. This manual as Hubert Ebner claims is perhaps the first major initiative to bring forth a comprehensive teaching - learning guide coupled with an interactive Learning System for training schools. The manual which covers all the necessary aspects for safe driving aims at supporting driver training instructors, motor licensing officers, as well as the drivers.From Different types of road users and informing about the Rules of the Road, this manual also gives you an advisory regarding some important components about your vehicle (basically cars) and how to drive it comfortably (this one for beginners). Another important issue that they have explained is how to drive defensively on Indian roads. This is a very significant aspect of driving and few drivers in Delhi practice it. Another chapter is on vehicle care and basic maintenance, which I think should be read by owners of self-driven cars. I recommend this book to every road user especially Delhi drivers as they don’t know even the basic rules of the road. Priced at Rs 198/-, you can contact Hubert Ebner @ 26445697. (Address: C-18, Chirag Enclave, New Delhi – 110048 URL: http://www.he-india.com).

Anil Juneja, a resident of Badarpur, called me up to tell me about traffic snarls at Badarpur Border. Even I am aware of that and National Highways Authority of India is developing the Badarpur border on a priority basis so there is a smooth transition of traffic on that road. Anil says, “Everyday in the morning and evening you have to wait for 45minutes to one hour in traffic just to cross the border.” Well that is nothing new. Most of the commuters travelling from Faridabad to Delhi have complained me about it. However, he has a suggestion which if implemented can save commuters from routine jams at Mathura Road on Badarpur border. He says, “There are two canals coming from Mithapur and Palla flow behind Sarita Vihar next to the Indian Oil bottling plant. It is a stretch of hardly two-and-a-half kilometres. If some of the traffic is diverted from that road to Faridabad, then traffic congestion at Badarpur Border will ease. The only problem is the road is presently un-metalled. Once the authorities construct the road properly, it can be a nice alternative for traffic going to Faridabad and vice versa.” I think the authorities should take a look at this alternative and should repair the road. The Delhi Traffic Police should work out some traffic arrangement in which this road can be used to ease traffic on Mathura Road at Badarpur Border. It can be a stopgap arrangement for the time being only until the Badarpur border is completely developed by NHAI.

Avinash Rajput sent me a mail regarding rail overbridge between Britannia Chowk and Punjab Bagh Flyovers. He had mailed me during May last year citing a problem and traffic cops had assured him to rectify it. He wants the cops to either provide a speed breaker or remove the partition on the road from the rail overbridge. But he complains that nothing has been done so far. He writes, ”Since a long period has elapsed no action has been taken so far. During this month, I again found the said partition road badly damaged which shows that some fatal accidents might have taken place. If a survey is done, you will find a number of accidents have taken place on this particular site. I, therefore, once again request you to kindly inspect the site personally and take appropriate remedial action at your earliest to avoid any further mishap on this site.”Meanwhile, Sharad Kashyap from Yamuna Vihar has written to me regarding a problem. He says, “Madanpura-Tuglaqabad bridge is very dangerous. There are no bus lanes. Buses drive here at 60-70 kmph. Two to three accidents took place in the last three months. There are no police personnel to check the rash truck drivers. Please help me to get to the authorities.”Yesterday there was a BJP rally in the city. Whole of Delhi Traffic Police was concentrating on that rally. This gave an opportunity to our Delhi drivers to make a mockery of law. I was passing through a stretch of Kasturba Gandhi Marg between Leo Tolstoy intersection and Outer Circle of CP and all along the road cars were parked. Throughout the stretch they covered half the road space available to them. In fact, they were parked till the white line, which divides the carriageway. Since all traffic cops were busy in traffic arrangements due to BJP’s yatra, all of these drivers were giving law a ball. Why don’t these vehicle owners act responsibly? Another thing that I have observed is that most of these cars were chauffer driven. Most of the owners in Delhi think that a chauffer is to save you from parking fee. I think that this attitude should change and they should instruct their chauffer to park it in parking areas only and not on the roadside.