Easing Traffic At Chronic Bottlenecks, Road Discipline On New DCP’s Agenda

Nagpur: Easing vehicular movement at chronic traffic bottlenecks, improving road discipline and ensuring better coordination among agencies carrying out road infrastructure projects top the priority list of the city's newly appointed deputy commissioner of police (Traffic) Aditya Mirkhelkar.An engineer-turned-IPS officer of the 2019 Maharashtra cadre, Mirkhelkar assumed charge following the transfer of former DCP (Traffic) Lohit Matani, who has been posted as Superintendent of Police, Highway Traffic, Nagpur. Mirkhelkar takes over at a time when the city is grappling with increasing vehicular numbers, ongoing road infrastructure works, and traffic congestion at several critical junctions.Speaking to TOI, Mirkhelkar said his immediate focus would be on providing relief to commuters by easing traffic at chronic traffic bottlenecks in busy commercial and transit areas. Mirkhelkar said he has already visited several congestion-prone locations, including Mahal, Itwari and Baidyanath Square."These are areas where congestion has become a routine problem. We will have to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to improve traffic flow and reduce inconvenience to citizens," he said.The DCP also stressed the need to maintain the recent decline in road accidents and fatalities recorded in the city. "Efforts would be directed towards further reducing accidents while simultaneously improving compliance with traffic rules among motorists," Mirkhelkar said.The DCP said another major area of focus would be the management of permissions granted for infrastructure and utility works that often result in road closures and diversions. "Simultaneous execution of multiple projects in adjoining areas can worsen congestion and inconvenience commuters," he noted. "We will focus on better planning and coordination among agencies so that permissions for different works are not granted simultaneously in nearby areas. This will help us implement diversions and traffic management measures more effectively," he said.