City Spidey tried to reach officials from the Ghaziabad Development Authority in this regard but they were incommunicado.
The image which you saw just now is of a traffic light, dangling from a 16-feet tall pole, which can fall anytime on commuters travelling through Bikaner Chowk, Indirapuram.
One of the three traffic lights is hung by a thin electric cable which even sways when the wind blows. "A mere stroke of gusty wind could detach the light and it would hurt any commuter seriously," told Avadhesh, a rickshaw puller sitting on his rickshaw parked on the roadside.
The particular traffic signal is one of the busiest junctions of Indirapuram. As the signal lights are in a defunct state for many years, the traffic here is controlled manually by police personnel.
"For a few days, many commuters stop and look in amaze at the light. We instruct them not to halt their vehicles close or below the light just to avoid any mishap," told traffic personnel deployed at the signal.
When asked whether he complained about this to his department, he said, "I raised complaint but was told that the matter is out of our jurisdiction".
"What the traffic cop said was right as in Indirapuram, the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) looks after the maintenance of the traffic signal," told Alok Kumar, a social activist, who had received this in a reply after he filed an RTI asking the jurisdiction of traffic signals in the area.
"GDA also said that the traffic signals will be overhauled soon as Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) is mapping out an action plan for traffic signals in the city," Kumar added quoting the reply of the RTI.
Residents too claimed that they see the light hanging for over a week.
Well, two key questions are- does GDA or traffic police need to wait for an action plan or order merely to remove a hanging traffic light, which is posing a threat to the residents. Besides, who will take responsibility for the mishap?
City Spidey tried to reach officials from the Ghaziabad Development Authority in this regard but they were incommunicado.
