By Sahil Makkar, IANS
New Delhi : Soon you may not have to spend agonising minutes under a blazing sun or a heavy downpour simply waiting to go cross the road because the traffic refuses to stop.
Delhi Police are planning to install a new system at 20 locations in the city that would provide pedestrians an option to press a small button and walk across.
"We are introducing a new system on the city roads that would help pedestrians cross a busy stretch at any moment without caring about the heavy traffic," Deputy Commissioner of Police Subhashish Chaudhry said.
According to Chaudhry, the Pedestrian Pelican Signal is very unique and works on demand. If you have to go across a particular stretch that is busy, then you just have to press a small red or black button attached to a traffic signal pole.
"Pressing the button would automatically turn the green traffic signal into red within a few seconds so that people can walk through easily. When the traffic movement halts, the striders will get 15-20 seconds to cross the road. After that the signal will again turn green allowing vehicles to move," Chaudhry told IANS.
This system has long been prevalent in major cities worldwide and Delhi, which has over five million vehicles on any given day and where the pedestrian is a much ignored factor, has just woken up to its benefits.
Chaudhry said the time allowed for pedestrians to cross the signal at various points would differ and be adjusted depending on the traffic volume in a particular area.
To prevent misuse, the button will function only at certain intervals of time. The new system is expected to come into place in a month and a half.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) M.S. Upadhye said it was an initiative to modernise traffic management in the city and make the roads more commuter friendly.
He said traffic police are planning to introduce this system in at least 20 such locations. Right now the system is operational at Rajpath, close to the historic India Gate, and on the Mother Teresa Crescent stretch in the New Delhi area.
"We will soon install this sensor-based system at some busy junctions of Lutyen's Delhi, Shantipath, Sanjay Gandhi Park, Willingdon Road, some areas in Central Delhi near the Connaught Place and in south Delhi," said Upadhye.
"It would be a big relief to the thousand of pedestrians who risk their lives from walking across from one side to another during the vehicular rush," Upadhye told IANS.
Deputy Commissioner of Police H.P.S. Virk explained: "The system acts like a lift that operates in a building, where you press a button to get access for your required destination.
"And also it doesn't matter how many people press the switch at the same time, just pressing once is sufficient. Once it is switched on, a red light will glow in the button, indicating it has been switched on by some other commuter seeking access to the other side of the road," Virk said.
However, traffic experts are a wee bit apprehensive, saying most people are unaware of how these things function.
"Often it has been noticed that the agencies don't pay much attention to popularising new facilities. So before launching such new initiatives, police must run some awareness programme," said Aman Deep Singh, a traffic expert with the Institute of Road Traffic Education.