V-2 road on Madhya Marg. (Express)
A SEPARATE corridor for the movement of ambulances in the city has been proposed by the UT Administration. As ambulances remain stuck in the traffic at light points leading to the wastage of the “golden hour” of the person requiring immediate medical aid, this corridor has been proposed.
According to the proposal prepared by the office of Chief Architect, Department of Urban Planning, it has been proposed that extreme 3.5 metre wide lane along major V-2 roads like Dakshin Marg, Madhya Marg, Vikas Marg and Purv Marg may be reserved for ambulances during peak hours to facilitate their faster movement.
It has been proposed that on a pilot basis, it may first be tested on Dakshin Marg. The issue will be taken up for final approval in the meeting of road safety committee, scheduled to be held in the coming week. The proposal is ready and once it gets the final go-ahead by the road safety committee, it is likely to be implemented from next month.The engineering wing may earmark the stretch on the lane.
A senior official who is a member of the committee said, “This is a priority issue. Ambulances remain stuck in traffic jams. A person who has made a halt at the traffic light when the signal is red too doesn’t know what to do if he finds an ambulance behind him. People feel helpless.”
The issue of installation of dash cameras in all the emergency vehicles — ambulances, fire tenders and PCR vehicles — will also be taken up. Installation of dash cameras was taken up in the last road safety committee meeting too wherein members had suggested that these cameras be installed in the CTU buses and after complete installation in the government vehicles, installation in the private vehicles, especially having women drivers be encouraged. A dash camera is an onboard camera that continuously records the view through a vehicle’s front windscreen and sometimes rear or other windows.
Also, the road safety committee will take up the issue of making seatbelts mandatory for schoolchildren in school buses. This has been proposed by the Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic and Security) under rule 138 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.
Harman Sidhu, who is a member of the committee, said that this was a matter of discussion as all the seats in the school buses will have to be refurbished to introduce the provision of seatbelts.
“Technically, seatbelts should be mandatory for all passengers. For instance, all the passengers in an aeroplane have to wear seatbelts because the logic is that all are moving at the same velocity. It will be a challenge because seatbelts aren’t there,” he said.
As per the report by the SSP Traffic, till April 11, 2018, more than 147 school bus drivers have been challaned for various violations. Intensifying the checking of school buses is already on the agenda.