KATHMANDU, DEC 03 - The traffic signals installed at various junctions of the Kathmandu Valley to ease ever-increasing traffic seems to be not so effective as envisioned.
Though the signals have helped to regulate more than 70 per cent of the traffic in the Valley, the system is not perfect, admits Senior Superintendent of Police Surendra Bahadur Pal.
Pedestrians face problems while crossing roads as vehicles are given the ‘go’ signal even when there is a green signal for the pedestrians. They are stuck in the middle of the road even when there is a green signal as there are vehicles coming in from the other side.
"It’s useless waiting for traffic lights as we cannot be at the other side of the road even in the green signal for us,’ says Prabha Gurung, a pedestrian at the Kesharmahal junction.
Junctions at Kesharmahal, Baneshwor, Exhibition Road and Singha Durbar are among the ones that face the ‘green-light’ crisis. There are a total of 10 traffic signals at various busy junctions in the Valley.
According to Pal, an increase in the number of traffic signals would help make the system more effective. "We need a total of 68 electronic signal junctions at various points in and around the ring road."
"The vehicles plying in the road has quadrupled since the year 1982, however, the infrastructure of the road has not changed," Pal says. Pal also reveals that major violators of the traffic rules are mobike riders. According to the latest data, there are approximately 170,000 mobikes in the Valley.Posted on: 2003-12-02 10:33

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