The AAP government is mulling the idea of creating dedicated lanes to pave way for smooth passage of emergency services during disasters in the national capital.
The AAP government is mulling the idea of creating dedicated lanes to pave way for smooth passage of emergency services during disasters in the national capital. City minister Satyendar Jain has reportedly told the officials of the Delhi police traffic wing and the public works department to see if lanes could be identified for smooth flow of traffic during emergencies.
At a recent meeting, the minister was reportedly of the view that there was an urgent need for having dedicated lanes for emergency services. The lanes would be earmarked exclusively for ambulances, fire tenders, police and disaster management vehicles.
But the PWD officials are said to have told the minister that due to heavy traffic load it was not possible to earmark lanes exclusively for emergency services. They reportedly told the minister that dedicated lanes during the Commonwealth Games did not affect the vehicular movement as these games were for a very limited period. But having such permanent lanes was not that easy, the officials said, adding, “Such emergency lanes could be possible in some pockets of Outer Delhi only, that too for a limited period.”
Some officials were reportedly of the view that hooters and cameras must be mounted on vehicles used in emergency services. “Once the vehicle is on any emergency duty, it should switch on its camera so that it can record the footage of those vehicles which do not provide it passage. Later, heavy penalties can be imposed on such vehicle owners.” The matter related to putting hooters and cameras on emergency vehicles will be discussed in another meeting.
At present, the city has about 87 lakh registered vehicles. Of these, 25 lakh to 30 lakh are only two-wheelers. There are also about 10 lakh floating vehicles which enter the city from neighbouring states. The vehicular population of the city is so high despite 25 lakh to 30 lakh people travelling by Metro and an equal number of passengers commuting by the DTC buses every day.
