LG apprises CM of work for clearing traffic bottlenecks

Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Wednesday apprised Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a letter, of the work done to clear major traffic bottlenecks in the city.

The LG took 'suo motu' cognizance of various newspaper reports mentioning that Kejriwal had sought the information from Chief Secretary M M Kutty by August 15.

Moreover, Baijal, in his letter, thanked the Chief Minister for taking a keen interest and also expressed his hope of complete cooperation on this issue, which "needs to be tackled on priority and sustained basis in the interest of all the residents of Delhi.

Traffic decongestion in Delhi has been a priority area for Baijal, since he assumed office in late December 2016.

In his letter to Kejriwal, Baijal elaborated that six task Forces were constituted by him in the January, each convened by the concerned Deputy Commissioner of Police, Range (Traffic), to identify congested corridors and suggest short-term as well as medium/long term solutions for smooth flow of traffic.

The LG's office said that these task forces conducted extensive field visits and studies and submitted a list of 77 corridors, of which 28 were identified as category-A 'priority' corridors.

Separately, the encroachments on each of these were also identified for appropriate action as per law.

Five major corridors for immediate action on pilot basis were also identified, namely Aurobindo Marg (Aurobindo Marg to Andheria More), Mathura Road (Neela Gumbad to Badarpur Flyover), Savitri Flyover (Chirag Delhi Crossing to Savitri Flyover), Sardar Patel Marg, (11 Murti to Rajokari Border) and Dhaula Kuan, (Dhaula Kuan Flyover to GGR Flyover, Sanjay T-Point).

In a separate development, it was also informed that the Delhi High Court also took cognizance of this issue in W P (C) No. 4999/2017 Manu Mishra vs. Government of NCT Delhi and Ors, wherein vide order dated May 30 directions were issued for examining the list of major encroachments/road blocks and to take steps to ensure proper circulation and movement of traffic.

Incidentally, a majority of these stretches are the same as identified by the District Task Forces in its 28 category-A priority corridors.

Finally, Baijal also informed Kejriwal that the entire matter is being continuously reviewed at his level and action has already started in some stretches in pursuance to the high court order.