‘Changes along arterial roads identified to benefit 80% of Pune’s commuters’: Manoj Patil, Additional Commissioner of Police

MANOJ PATIL: We need to look at data, statistics and scientific analysis. With Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and surrounding areas, we are a city of almost 10 million. Historically, civic bodies in Pune never had a traffic engineer. So we rely on consultants for analysis. As far as the police are concerned, when I ask the traffic police whether they are trained specifically for this job, the answer is, not adequately. Mumbai has a traffic training institute, in the same way, Pune also needs one. Thus, we are not equipped to analyse our traffic problems in a scientific manner.

Pune is the largest municipal corporation in India in terms of area. In the last six years, we have registered 20 lakh new vehicles in Pune. From 52 lakh in 2018, we are 72 lakh in 2024. The Origin-Destination or OD surveys of Pune show almost everyone passes through the centre of the city to go from one location to another. We don’t have ring roads, which can help disperse the traffic and take the load off central roads. Pune has six per cent of its area under roads, when the standard is 10 percent and above. Because of this, the vehicle to capacity (V/C) ratio is more than one, which brings the Level of Service (LoS) at level D on a scale of A to F — F being the lowest. There are roads where the V/C ratio is two, which makes them the worst patches. Because of this, even one violation, like wrong parking or lane indiscipline, can cause major traffic jams.

SUNANDA MEHTA: What can be done on the enforcement front and in prosecution of violations?

MANOJ PATIL: A notion was floated a few years ago, that traffic police will not prosecute, but they will regulate, contrary to most places in the world where traffic police mainly prosecute. Over a period of time, prosecution numbers have gone down. We can bring back the culture of traffic discipline only through proper enforcement. But doing that has challenges. After the present Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar joined, he has stressed on proper prosecution and enforcement. We have sent a proposal to the government for an intelligent traffic management system (ITMS) wherein prosecutions are initiated through after a computerised detection of a violation. On our part, we have to improve enforcement, but on the other hand, the engineering aspect also has to to improve. With both aspects, I hope that situation will certainly improve.

PARTHA SARATHI BISWAS: Many cities have camera-based prosecutions. What is stopping Pune from having that system?

MANOJ PATIL: We don’t have that system at present. In ITMS, the signal and the camera are connected to each other. At present, a traffic cop sitting in our CCTV control room spots a violation and issues a challan. We make around 1,000 violation cases per day. In ITMS, a computer programme detects a violation. So we have sent a proposal for it and we hope it gets approval soon.

ANURADHA MASCARENHAS: Do we have systems in place to achieve signal synchronisation, where the signal at one junction is in tandem with another?

MANOJ PATIL: Signals are installed by the civic bodies including municipal corporations and they are operated by the police. The 124 automatic traffic management system (ATMS) signals that we have are synchronised. But from our side, there is inadequate monitoring of the agency tasked to do this. That again highlights the need of a traffic engineer in Pune. The V/C and LoS data points also need to be studied for traffic signals too and then traffic signal cycles need to be adjusted accordingly.

At present, we have 124 cameras under ATMS, where you sit in the control room and can watch traffic. We have 260 traffic signals, whose cycle needs to be set by physically going to the signal. We have sent a proposal for over 400 signals under ITMS, which will give you computer-detected prosecution. Plus, we are now getting a second phase of advanced CCTV cameras installed in other places of the city, which will also have ITMS. These changes will make us truly world standard. The notion that a machine will detect the violation is a deterrent.

The Motor Vehicle Act lists 300 violations. After Amitesh Kumar joined, we have decided to identify 10 main violations for Pune. These include — travelling on the wrong side; changing lanes at the signal; driving or parking on the footpath; rash driving’ overspeeding; drunk driving; three persons on a two-wheeler; wrong number plate and heavy vehicles during peak time. We are conducting dedicated drives for these heads. We hope to see an impact.

SUNANDA MEHTA: It is disheartening to see that the helmet rule is not among these. With Pune having the highest number of two-wheelers and youngsters, why can’t there be a full enforcement of helmets?

MANOJ PATIL: You are absolutely right. It is an issue of top priority. But past instances in Pune are not encouraging. Once helmet drives start, there is resistance. The helmet rule enforcement in Pune will require building consensus. Many lives are lost because of not wearing helmets. It should be undertaken as a sustained campaign before we focus on complete enforcement. We can start building consensus by having a public discussion on the issue involving all stakeholders. And we will need support from the media.

SUSHANT KULKARNI: You have identified 32 arterial roads for implementing immediate low cost solutions. Tell us more about it.

MANOJ PATIL: We have identified 32 arterial roads. Pune has a total of 2,100 kilometres of roadways. Can I decide which to prioritise for immediate solutions? Of this 2,100 kms, 261 are arterial roads which carry 80 percent of Pune’s total commuters. So repairing the waterlogging points on these arterial roads will benefit 80 percent of commuters. The same applies to potholes and problematic manholes. One wrongly-parked vehicle on an arterial road is a way bigger problem than that in an alley. So we are prioritising these 32 roads. The PMC and other agencies fully support us on this. We are building further on this and will make a presentation for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde soon.

On these 32 arterial roads, we have proposed immediate and low cost solutions. For example, we will conduct no parking actions on these roads first. We will conduct actions against unauthorised hawkers and remove the bottlenecks. We will prioritise these roads for surface work and pothole repairs and for shifting a bus stop and rickshaw stops. From the side of the PMC, there will be 20 capacity enhancement measures and from the police’s side, around 15. We have further identified 54 sub-arterial roads and 20 others which are connected to the main roads and will work on those in the same manner.
These arterial, sub-arterial and other roads have been identified from Bhima Koregaon to Balewadi, and from Katraj to Uruli Kanchan, and we are working together with other agencies. For the first time ever, the PMC has given us two urban traffic planners for this purpose. We have also identified a 33rd arterial road, which is the Bangalore bypass highway. We recently gave a presentation to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari. He has immediately given an approval of Rs 300 crore for the bypass highway.

ANURADHA MASCARENHAS: Wrong parking is a major concern. Why is there not enough action?

MANOJ PATIL: We have prioritised action on arterial roads on that front too. It is also a larger question of bringing a change in culture. We are conducting a drive against extended margins of buildings and have also begun registering cases. We can certainly do more on enforcement in this issue.

AJAY JADHAV: Along how many of these 32 roads is parking allowed? Does Pune need a pay and park system?

MANOJ PATIL: Of these 32 roads, P1-P2 parking is 1,650 metres. One side parking is allowed along 9,245 metres of the total 261 kms. We are trying to reduce this further. Pune certainly requires a pay and park system. We should have a system of charging a basic rate for the first two hours and then go on increasing almost exponentially. It will help a lot. Private vehicles have to be discouraged.
But there are other factors. We have 17 percent of people travelling by public transport. For Mumbai and Delhi, that number is 60. Our Metro is certainly improving the situation and will further improve when routes extend. There is the option of sharing vehicles and semi-public transport like autos and cabs. Walking, cycling can be encouraged.

SUSHANT KULKARNI: You mentioned a lack of training for personnel and officers in the traffic control branch? What are you doing about it?

MANOJ PATIL: We have started conducting sessions for them. But, bringing a large number of them for training puts a strain on traffic management. So we conduct training during their briefing sessions. One of the key aspects of training is traffic management, prioritising roads during junction management, understanding flows and anticipating congestion. We will also get remote controls for traffic signals to change the phases while managing the traffic.

SUNANDA MEHTA: What about University junction and why does it defy all solutions?

MANOJ PATIL: The situation has improved after the Police Commissioner visited the junctions and issued directions to all agencies. We closed three signals and made the flow continuous. We have sought that the entire upper layer of the road should be redone and that patchwork repair be avoided. There will be improvement soon. On Baner road, the roadway will be narrower as a ramp for the Metro is being constructed, which is important.

CHANDAN HAYGUNDE: What should be the ideal vehicle to capacity ratio?

MANOJ PATIL: Ideally it should be less than one. But more importantly, you should have more than 50 percent people using public transport, including shared public transport like autos and cabs. We are at 17 right now. A very positive thing I’ve seen is people prefer the Metro. The recent numbers are really encouraging and they are going to increase.

SUSHANT KULKARNI: Traffic changes are invariably met with opposition from the public that has got used to certain norms, especially so in Pune. How do you handle such situations?

MANOJ PATIL: When I was posted as DCP, Traffic in 2008, people jokingly advised me that if I wanted to do good work in Pune, I shouldn’t do anything because it will be opposed. However, we decided to make Jangli Maharaj Road and Fergusson College Road one way, after a lot of scientific analysis. I got great support from the then police commissioner and PMC commissioner. The perception was that it will lead to loss of business. There was this one day when a serious accident took place on JM Road. When I faced the angry crowd at the spot, I took the responsibility but also stressed that the intention of the decision was to improve the carrying capacity. I had addressed 63 meetings convincing stakeholders about the decision.

Two months down the line, after facing a lot of criticism, a news editorial on this issue helped us build consensus on the subject. In the same manner, I had received support from The Indian Express, when we dealt with the issue of parking private buses on main roads, which was causing heavy congestion. Our decision to ban parking had faced a lot of opposition from the bus operators. I will always remember the support of Express Group through their coverage, in overcoming the inertia towards the good decisions.