THANE: The traffic department here installed a machan at Kalyan Phata junction in the Thane district of Maharashtra to manage vehicular traffic and avoid any congestion.
The authorities claimed that this is the first time in the Mumbai metropolitan region that such an initiative has been taken to curb traffic.
The 15-foot-tall machan was put up last week and has helped to manage the congestion in the area as it is one of the prime junctions and vehicles from various cities pass through that point.
The traffic authorities stated that heavy vehicles travel to and fro JNPT–Thane - vehciles take the route from Shil–Kalyan - so at times there is too much congestion at the junction.
It becomes difficult to manage the traffic as the officials don’t understand immediately as to where the traffic flow is more.
“This initiative is probably only in Thane and it has not only helped in managing the traffic flow but also has helped for immediate response as the coordination is quick. Two officials are stationed on the machan with binoculars for quick response, with the help of which one can see the road up to 3.5km. So depending on congestion in a particular lane, traffic can be easily managed, as they even have walkie-talkies to alert their colleagues who are on the road,” said Balasaheb Patil, deputy commissioner of police, Thane traffic.
Patil also stated that this initiative also helps to see if there is any accident in the area, or if traffic is being blocked due to motorists travelling in the wrong lane.
Also, if this initiative helps, there is a probability of installing such machans in other parts of the Thane police commissionerate too i.e. Thane, Dombivli, Badlapur, Bhiwandi etc.
Also, with the help of the loudspeaker, announcements are made from time to time urging motorists to follow the traffic rules like wearing a seat belt, helmet, not speeding, not driving on the wrong side etc.