SC forms panel on Kaushambi's traffic management problem

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has taken note of the traffic management problem in Ghaziabad's Kaushambi area and constituted a committee comprising representatives of the statutory authorities of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh so that a coordinated and concerted effort can be made to resolve the issue.

The apex court, which said that a comprehensive traffic management plan should be presented before it, observed that a resolution of the issue would not be possible unless all the authorities concerned jointly agree on a concrete effort to manage the traffic problems.

A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud constituted a committee consisting of Divisional Commissioner Meerut, Chairperson of the Ghaziabad Development Authority, District Magistrate Ghaziabad, Transport Secretary of Delhi government, Municipal Commissioner of East Delhi Municipal Corporation and other concerned authorities.

The bench, also comprising Justices M R Shah and Sanjiv Khanna, said that Ghaziabad's District Magistrate shall be the nodal officer of committee.

In the circumstances, we are of the view that, within three weeks, a comprehensive traffic management plan should be presented before this court. We propose to constitute a committee consisting of representatives of statutory authorities in the state of Uttar Pradesh as well as from the Government of NCT of Delhi so that a coordinated and concerted effort can be made by the authorities in both the jurisdictions to resolve the issue through a unified approach, the bench said in its order passed on March 24.

The bench was hearing a petition which highlighted several issues — ranging from haphazard traffic management to environmental pollution and unrestricted dumping of municipal solid waste — and claimed that residents of the area are suffering from serious respiratory issues.