Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 12: The failure of authorities here for proper assessment of site, traffic, and requirement of junctions before installation of traffic lighting system has made the much-hyped Installation of Intelligent Traffic Lighting System in Jammu utter failure.
The CAG report has pointed out that the DPR for ‘Installation of Intelligent Traffic Light System (ITLS)’ for Jammu city proposed by JMC under SAAP 2015-16 at an estimated cost of Rs 27.50 crore Including Rs 8.40 crore for comprehensive AMC from 3rd year upto 10th year of its completion was approved in January 2016 by SHPSC with four main components.
(1) ‘Survey, design, supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of intelligent traffic signal system with operation & monitoring of traffic lights from a centralized control room remotely at 34 locations in Jammu city’; (2) Upgradation of all existing 30 fixed time standalone traffic signal system to intelligent traffic system with operation and monitoring of the traffic lights from a centralized control room remotely; (3) Survey, design, supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of pedestrian signal lights at existing 30 locations in Jammu city’; and (4) Survey, design, supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of red light signal violation detection with vehicle registration number plate recognition system to cover one intersection in Jammu city.
The objective of the project was that intelligent traffic lights system should be capable of integration with city surveillance system, interchange of data with the existing system of VahanSarthi project of Regional Transport Office (RTO), generating real time reports and challans including images for presentation in the Court of law for investigation/ analysis.
Against four components of work, the JMC invited tenders in April 2016, June 2016 and September 2017 for three components with tendering for one component- Survey, design, supply, installation and maintenance of Red Light Signal Violation Detection (RLVD) with vehicle registration number plate recognition system to cover intersections in Jammu city-being excluded. The tenders could not be finalised by the JMC between April 2016 and June 2016, due to participation of less than three bidders. On the third occasion (September 2016) two bidders out of three biddersM/s DIMTS (T-1); M/s ONNYX (T-2) and M/s J&K SICOP (T-3) were found to be lacking in at least one of the essential pre-qualification requirement38 by the SLCC during the technical evaluation in November 2016. The SLCC decided in November 2016 to allot contract to the sole qualified bidder to M/s DIMTS at a cost of Rs 14.25 crore, who was declared qualified in November 2016 by the contract committee in Technical/ Financial evaluation, with the work to be completed within six months from the date of allotment order in January 2017.
The firm was required to provide an integrated system to control and monitor all 64 intersections from a common command control center. The traffic lights at 64 junctions including the setting up of a control room were completed (June/ October 2018) at a cost of Rs 14.51 crore. After installation of traffic lighting system at 64 intersections, the Traffic Department placed (between March 2018 and July 2019) 31 intersections on signal mode and 33 intersections on blinking mode for periods ranging between 12 and 16 months, indicating the limited functionality of these traffic signals. This indicated that proper assessment of site, traffic and requirement of junctions was not made before installation of traffic lighting system. After being pointed out in Audit, the EE (Electric), Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), while accepting the audit observation, stated in August 2019 that all junctions would be brought under the intelligent traffic management system in future and that tender for RLVD for 16 junctions was under way. Thus, non-execution of work on Red Light Signal Violation Detection (RLVD) and non-existence of mechanism for monitoring violations of traffic signals at 64 intersections besides putting 33 signals at blinking mode defeated the very purpose of installation of Intelligent Traffic Lighting System and rendered expenditure of Rs 14.51 crore incurred on the project largely unfruitful, as of December 2020. |
