New Traffic Signals to be Set Up by GHMC at 155 Junctions in Hyderabad

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is getting ready to instal traffic signals at 155 junctions and 98 pelican signals in addition to the current 221 traffic signals, as the vehicular population in the city rises and to ensure balanced traffic flow across its limits.

In addition to replacing expired signals in several areas, the municipal corporation has drawn in a new agency to build the new signals. This is after the three police commissioners received reports from the Traffic Police about defective signals at various stages.

New Agency Roped for Installation of Traffic Signal in City

The current contract with Bharath Electronics Limited (BEL) for the working and maintaining the existing 221 signals have recently expired. The new company is taking over the maintenance and planning for the installation of the new signals.

The GHMC standing committee has already accepted these proposals. At the cost of nearly Rs 59 crores, the new 155 traffic signals and 98 pelican signals will be set up. Of the 155 signals, 80 will appear within the Hyderabad Police Commissioner's limits, 50 within the limits of Cyberabad and 25 at Rachakonda limits. Similarly, 41 of the 98 pelican signals suggested are to be mounted in Hyderabad, 39 in Cyberabad and 18 in the Rachakonda Commissioner's jurisdictions.

A senior official stated that the municipal corporation had set up special teams to identify and rectify expired traffic signals. Last year, a survey was carried out, and it was found that 86 of the 221 traffic signals were functioning properly, and another 80 were partially functioning. Because of the introduction of signal-free U-turn and the Hyderabad Metro Rail works taken up in the past, the remaining 55 signals were not working.

Due to lack of proper employees and other factors, including the availability of spares, the functioning and maintenance of these signals by BEL was not satisfactory. BEL could not fix the glitches in the outdated signals, despite the topic coming up for discussion during a meeting last year.

The new company will now manage and maintain the current traffic signals and instal new ones respectively. All traffic signals within the GHMC limits will be coordinated accordingly with the Command Control Centre for continuous traffic monitoring and regulation.

By: Shailaja K