‘Confused’ traffic lights on three Panchkula stretches leave commuters in a fix

DYSFUNCTIONAL TIMERS on three traffic lights have left Panchkula motorists in a state of bother.

Motorists claimed that sometraffic lights in the city have a mind of their own, often suddenly changing from green to red and leaving commuters at the risk of meeting an accident. Compounding the problem were a lack of timers and blinking traffic lights, which lead to confused motorists often being fined by the traffic police for no fault of their own.

According to commuters, three of these defective traffic signals are located at Majri Chowk, Sector 1; at Sector 7/8; and Shaheed Major Sandeep Sagar Chowk, Sector 17/18.

Interestingly, traffic police department acknowledge the glitches and claim that the concerned department, Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), have been informed about the glitches. The maintenance of the traffic lights falls under the purview of the engineering wing of HSVP.

Keshav Sahoo, a resident of Sector 7, said, “In the absence of timers at the traffic signal, one is left confused as to when the light suddenly changes from green to red. This also increases the chances of a collision, since everyone is in a hurry to cross the light point. Many times, it has also led to verbal altercations between commuters and traffic cops, who often can be spotted challaning people who they spot jumping the traffic signals.” Reports indicated that there were a total of 29 traffic lights within the city limits.

The three ‘problematic’ light points are located on the busiest stretches in the city, through which thousands of vehicles pass daily.

Contacted, ACP (Traffic), Ramesh Gulia, said , “We have submitted complaints to the HSVP office with an updated list of all the defective lights , timers and CCTV cameras to be repaired or changed completely under the city limits.”

Junior Engineer (JE), HSVP, Chaman Lal, however, stated, “All traffic lights under the city’s jurisdiction are in working order according to a recent survey concluded by the department. The timers at traffic lights are not functioning properly due to less power supply in the past few days . We will soon repair the defective and dysfunctional light points.”