By Sahil Makkar, IANS,
New Delhi : Around 70 traffic signals go on the blink in the Indian capital every day, leading to massive traffic snarls. And motorists may have to sweat it out for at least three more months as new contracts for maintaining these signals will not come into force before that.
The firms that win the bids will have to bring in new technology and upgradation systems and will face stiff penalties if they fail, say Delhi Police who award the contracts.
There are around 725 traffic signals and 435 blinkers in the capital, of which 350 are being maintained and serviced by the firm CMS Traffic Sytems Ltd. The remaining are taken care of by Keltron. They have done so for 20 years.
“Their performance has not been up to the mark. They have not been able to manage the existing signals. We are in the process of replacing them and for that bids have been invited,” Joint Commissioner of Police S.N. Srivastava told IANS.
Traffic signals regularly go on the blink because of power failure, waterlogging and construction work.
Though Delhi Police should have invited the tenders two-three months ago – the contract of both the companies ended in the first week of October – the technical bids only closed Oct 5. Five companies, including CMS, Keltron, Onyx, Insta Power and Bharat Electrical Limited came forward and gave presentations before the police. However, Insta Power later pulled out of the race.
The contract for the next two years will also cover the installation of new signals and blinkers. Some of the requisites in the tender are the installation of Light Emission Diodes (LEDs) on signals or blinkers, the conversion of existing LED-based traffic light signals into solar signals, the installation of auditory signals and automatic signal monitoring systems.
“The decision of awarding this contract will take a month. But it will take another two-three months before the contracted company takes up the work. All the companies are promising the induction of new technology and upgradation of existing infrastructure,” a senior traffic police official confided to IANS.
“The tender should have been floated earlier, but it is being done now at a good pace, keeping the Commonwealth Games in mind,” the officer added.
At present, the contract has been extended to the existing agencies. Delhi has a vehicle population of nearly 5.5 million and some two million vehicles pass through the capital every day. CMS maintains signals in south, southwest, central, and New Delhi areas; Keltron is in charge of northeast, east, north and northwest Delhi. Each firm has placed one van for each district.
“We generally get around 70 calls every day related to problems with traffic signals. Our team reaches there the same day to attend to it, but the resolution time varies depending on the nature of the problem,” CMS spokesman Rajesh Khanna told IANS.
On an average, 30-40 traffic signals are not repaired on the same day.
“It would be unfair to say that the failure of traffic signals causes jams in the city. Waterlogging and a very high number of vehicles are the root causes,” he said.
Khanna also said all existing infrastructure has become obsolete and Delhi Police should float a separate tender to upgrade it.
Delhi Police have decided to enforce some control over maintenance companies by making significant changes in the clauses of the contract that will be awarded.
“A penalty of five percent of the total bill amount was being imposed on the maintenance agency. But in the new contract, the clause has been strengthened with heftier fines and even blacklisting. These agencies will be forced to set the signals right in order to avoid penalties,” said another senior official.
According to the new agreement, all minor faults have to be corrected within six hours of receipt of complaints and for all major problems, the deadline is two days. If any signal remains non-functional for over five days, traffic police will not pay any maintenance charge for it. Once the five-day period lapses, a penalty of Rs.500 per day will be charged.
(Sahil Makkar can be contacted at [email protected])