Agartala: Traffic system in tatters, officials play blame game

While the public continues to grapple with the issues on road, the Traffic Department and Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) are busy blaming each other for the failure. “Traffic signal management is not our responsibility. It is the duty of the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC). Our duties are restricted to traffic management on roads,” SP Samanta added. AMC Commissioner Dr Sailesh Kumar Yadav, however, maintains that the traffic authorities declined to assume responsibility of the signal system even though it is their forte. “During a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary in 2018, it was decided that the city’s traffic signal system would be maintained by the Traffic Department. But they declined to take the responsibility. Therefore, we are doing it”, the Commissioner said.

He added that a Kerala PSU which was given the contract for the signals in Agartala city left without completing the contract. Later, Starlight Advertising, a West Bengal based company was roped in for setting up signals in 19 other urban areas of Tripura. The company is now repairing damaged traffic signals in Agartala city as well.

Director General of Tripura Police Akhil Kumar Shukla had launched the intelligent traffic signal system in Agartala city at an expense of Rs. 67 lakhs in January 2018 saying it would ensure hassle-free traffic flow. The new signal systems came with a network of CCTV cameras installed across the length and breadth of the city to ensure auto-generated challans for traffic rule violators.

However, people have said that the signals are frequently damaged and are not repaired for weeks. “We took some time to get accustomed to the new signal system in Agartala city. But once we got habituated, these signals started malfunctioning. The damaged ones were not repaired for months”, Tanmoy Chakraborty, a motorcyclist told indianexpress.com.

Apart from the traffic system, Agartala city, which was included in the list of smart cities in the second phase of the countrywide urban development initiative, received a few more facelifts. These include the innovative management of drinking water, sewage system, sanitation, solid waste management among others.