| Traffic lights have since turned defunct , Govt says in ‘perfect order’ | | | KUNAL SHRIVATSA
JAMMU, Mar 15: It may sound strange but it is true that some of the government departments sometimes provide partial or incorrect information of the ground realities with respect to a particular question raised by the Members of the State Legislative Assembly.
While replying in written to a question of MLA Ashok Khajuria, the Housing & Urban Development Department did exactly that and provided misinformation on the status of traffic signal lights installed in Jammu and Srinagar cities as it claims that the lights are in order in both the capital cities which is quite contradictory to the real picture as far as the functioning of the signals is concerned particularly in Jammu.
It is an open secret that out of the total 30 lights installed in various parts of the winter capital of the State, the majority of the traffic signal lights are either shut down completely or just give blinking indicator there by putting the much hyped project’s future in jeopardy.
On the contrary, the Government’s reply said that all the traffic lights installed in Jammu City are working properly.
“In Jammu City, 30 traffic light signals have been installed and all are working smoothly. However, Traffic Police Department has put a few lights on blinker mode in order to arrive at a logical decision with regards to shifting of some lights.”
If the Government’s ‘few lights on blinker mode’ is somewhat close to fifty percent of the installed traffic signal lights then its reply is definitely containing vague information as the response failed to give the exact number of defunct lights and the valid reasons for their present fate.
As many as twelve out of total thirty points in Jammu city where traffic signal lights were installed and made functional in August 2012 are either entirely non-operational or on blinker mode.
The traffic signal system near Janipur Police Station, Janipur Chowk, High Court Crossing (Near Power Station - Janipur), Ambphalla Chowk, Opposite Radio Station Gate - Panjtirthi, Library Chowk - Kachi Chawni, Shalamar Chowk, Indira Chowk, Vivekananda Chowk – Gummat, Panama Chowk, Jewel Chowk, Canal Head and Gol Pulli- Talab Tillo are not properly functioning as some of them are either totally defunct or just on blinking mode.
With the traffic signal system in Jammu city going haywire within months of its installation, one could only sum up that it is really a pity that the installation of traffic signal lights has not paid the desired results even after incurring Rs 1.89 crores.
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