Mumbai: In a bid to tackle traffic jams and congestion caused by unprecedented repairs or the ongoing Metro rail work across the city, the Mumbai Traffic Police have rolled out number of portable traffic signals that can move from one place to another to tackle the traffic bottlenecks. Even as the traffic cops put in place a few diversions to avoid jams and congestion on roads, it becomes difficult to manage the existing traffic at the point, which leads to the problem. In such times, these portable signals will come into play, said a senior traffic official.
According to traffic police, amid these never-ending Metro work and road repairs, a number of new traffic congestion points have been developed. A portable signal is one of the top most measure that will help us tackle and curb the traffic congestion and stop it from creating a bottleneck.
Explaining the design of this portable signal, police said, these signals can be moved on wheels and be stationed in areas where there is no scope of installing permanent signals. The portable signal comes with an LED screen, powered by solar energy, which would flash traffic safety messages issued in public interest.
“There are places which require traffic regulation during certain times and the portable signal will facilitate. Moreover, the portable traffic signals operate on solar power and battery as well as on an electric source. These signals need to be charged for at least 8 hours in order to work for the whole day,” said a senior most traffic official.
Mumbai, a huge metropolis, has more than 1,200 permanent signals, which is apparently not enough to man the 28 lakh vehicles on 2,000 km of road network. While some transport experts have lauded this move by the traffic cops, others have strongly opposed its practicality, citing that city roads are already narrow, and once a portable signal is placed on the already congested road, it will hardly keep any space for a vehicle to move.
Mumbai, however, is not the first city to install portable signals as Chennai had introduced portable signals in 2011 due to irregular power supply because of which traffic signals had stopped working.
While the portable signals have been rolled into the force, they are yet to hit the streets and are currently used for training, workshop and installed at several special drives undertaken by the Mumbai Traffic Police, said an official.
