BANGALORE: Menacing traffic in Bangalore city is a major issue often taken up to criticise the traffic department for its inability to tackle the menace. But, to the surprise of pedestrians crossing the road on Infantry Road, near the Indian Express and Coffee Board junction, they saw a timer that indicated the seconds left before the traffic turns green. The Bangalore traffic police has finally taken into consideration the hardships faced by the pedestrians while crossing roads witnessing heavy traffic and fulfilled a long-pending demand of installing timers at pedestrian signals. Constable Mohan Kumar says, “The timer was fixed around 15 days back. From what I have observed, it has been proving to be of great help to the pedestrians.”On the contrary, when City Express asked a pedestrian his reaction to the timer, he was amused at its very existence, though he congratulated the Traffic police for installing the device. “This is a welcome step by the traffic department. Finally, they are looking into issues faced by us pedestrians,” says Manjunath, a employee at a BPO. He had failed to notice the timer though.“This is a good initiative undertaken by the traffic department. However, the crux of the matter is how many will make proper use of it and will it really serve the purpose,” questioned Vinod, who was using the signal on Sunday.When City Express contacted the Traffic Management Center, the official, who did not wish to be named, said, “We have installed these timers in some parts of the city very recently and as of now they are under observation. We think it will be of help for people as it will alert them to the time remaining before attempting to cross the road. We will introduce this facility to other junctions in the city soon.” The official said that a budget of Rs 12 lakhs has been fixed to install timers across the city.In recent times, Bangalore traffic police has taken many initiatives to curb the traffic violations by installing automated video surveillance cameras, distributing Blackberry handsets, variable message digital sign boards in select junctions and linking these various devices to the traffic management centre.
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