DIMTS Says It’s Not Equipped To Handle New Situation; Traffic Cops Insist No One Has Asked Them To Take Up Job New Delhi: Delhi government’s flagship Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand bus rapid bus transit corridor seems to have been abandoned by the authorities. Weeks after Delhi High Court instructed the government to allow mixed traffic on the dedicated lane till a final order was delivered, no agency seems to be willing to take responsibility for the corridor. DIMTS (Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System), the agency in-charge of BRT, claims it is not “equipped” to handle a corridor with mixed traffic while the Delhi traffic police says it’s not responsible as it was never asked. Said Satyender Garg, joint commissioner of police (traffic), “We have not received any formal communication from any department regarding this. We will, of course, readily assist in complying with the court order if such a communication comes.” The transport department, which ostensibly owns the corridor, is equally clueless. As a result traffic movement on BRT has become chaotic. Traffic violations are rampant through the day even as scores of vehicles jostle for space. On Wednesday noon, cars, autos and buses moving from Chirag Dilli towards Pushp Vihar had occupied both lanes of the dedicated corridor. Buses, which now move in all lanes, were stuck midway on the right lane of the erstwhile dedicated lane as they ran into vehicles from the opposite direction. It took S Chatterjee about half-anhour to move from Chirag Dilli to Pushp Vihar around that time. Said Neeraj Jain, a daily commuter: “For more than a fortnight, travelling on BRT has become a nightmare as there is no enforcement of traffic rules. Vehicles jump lights and go wherever they please.” Jain’s not the only one complaining. Sagar Mehta, who works in a shop adjoining the BRT, said, “Earlier, there were marshals managing the traffic during peak hours. Now, you cannot see a single marshal or policeman at any time. An accident is waiting to happen.” According to DIMTS, the management of the corridor is no longer with it as it doesn’t have the expertise or personnel to “handle” mixed traffic. “Since the court ordered that mixed traffic be allowed, we are no longer in charge. The traffic cycle, enforcement and management is with the traffic police now,” said a DIMTS spokesperson. All that the agency does now is run the traffic lights cycle, added the official. Marshals have been removed from the corridor. Meanwhile, traffic cops claim more cops are present. “It’s very difficult to manage the corridor in its present form. The road engineering needs to be changed and cleared before mixed traffic can be run here,” said a local traffic cop. He, however, agreed that the situation on the ground was grim. “The traffic cycles do not reflect the traffic volume, adding to the chaos,” he said, adding that there was no clarity on who was operating the signals at the intersections, DIMTS or another agency. The transport department was equally clueless on the management of the corridor. Officials admitted that no formal communication had been sent to the Delhi traffic police to take up management of traffic in BRT. “Since the court had instructed that mixed traffic be allowed, it is assumed that traffic police will manage the corridor in the interim,” said a senior government official. Times View The authorities cannot just wash their hands of the BRT corridor because the court has asked them to do away with the traffic segregation they had put in place earlier. If the contention is that DIMTS, the agency that was overseeing the BRT, no longer has a role, then the traffic police must be asked to take over the stretch to ensure that traffic going in opposite directions does not get mixed up in the same carriageway. It can’t be allowed to become a free-for-all. This hands-off approach smacks of a government that is sulking at not being allowed to have its way.