DRIVING DETERRENT

Union urban development minister told HT last month t the government was conside ing at least 21 stretches where congestion fee might be enforced

These include the corridors between Aurobindo Chowk an Andheria More, Nehru Place flyover and Modi Mills flyover, areas around Hauz Khas Metro station on the Outer Ring Road, the ITO intersection, and parts of Mehrauli-gurgaon Road, Mathura Road and Pusa Road

“Over the last one year or so, with great persuasive effort and pain, I have been able to identify 77 corridors that are congested and require specific engineering or technological intervention. Delhi police has recently partnered with Maruti for the implementation of an intelligent traffic management system. This is being done in one of the busiest corridors of Delhi,” Baijal said on Wednesday.

“We are contemplating to identify some roads which could be converted into one-way traffic. The other idea we have been toying with is to introduce in some form of congestion charges on selected roads,” he added.

When contacted, special com- NNO titime fframe has been set about when the fee will kick in. How much tax will be levied on which category of vehicle is yet to be worked out.

missioner of police (traffic) Depender Pathak said that work had begun on creating a network of one-way streets. He said that a survey was being conducted by an expert committee headed by the Delhi Integrated MultiModal Transit System (DIMTS) to assess stretches where oneway restrictions could be implemented.

“We will take a call on the stretches where one-way circulation is possible once we get the report. It will mainly be worked out in areas where parallel connections are available. A methodology is also being worked out for the implementation of congestion charges,” Pathak said.