Walk Or Wait.....you decide

Waiting for hours, aching legs because of being in a sitting position too long, adjusting the seat belt so that it doesn’t kill you with suffocation and to top it all a wonderful sweaty weather. This is one exercise that is sure to make you sweat it out.What I am talking about is waiting anxiously to move an inch in the prevailing traffic situation of Indian’s capital city – New Delhi.

Delhi is hugely populated metropolitan city and the number of cars on the roads (or even in the footpath) is enough to make that wild assumption. I have being living in Delhi for the 10 years and the traffic problem has only become worse over these years.Many of you who have experienced Delhi roads will agree. Well, more than an experience it is an adventure from which there is no escape.

On various roads construction of flyovers and metros is going on because of which half of the road is blocked and the two-way traffic is made to move through the rest half. Although these metros and flyovers are made to reduce the level of traffic on road but their construction time stretches for years that sometimes you wonder the situation would have been better if there were no constructions.

The main reason Delhi has this traffic problem is because of the lack of space. Neither there is space for roads nor is there space for parking. So the results, vehicles are parked on the roads further reducing the space available for driving.

Another problem of Delhi traffic, and a big one, is the mad craze for speed. The normal speed limit permitted is 40 for big vehicles and 50 for small vehicles. The people behind the wheels think of themselves as some kind of formula-one racers or hunks breaking all the traffic rules making to their destination as if they were to break someone’s record. And if that’s the case they surely would have done that by now. To top it all the vehicles have these blasting music being played as if they want to do some kind of social service by making others around them listen to music without having to pay for a stereo system. All this further disrupts the traffic and people can’t even hear the voice of the horns over this music. One of feature that is very unique to Delhites is that they consider vehicle as a symbol of social status. So if you have 4 cars you are rich irrespective to the fact that all the cars are purchased on loan and you have a debt of more that 1 crore. Because of this every Delhi house has a minimum of two-three cars although you make actually use none. It is like choosing a dress for a party, deciding which car to drive so that you can make an impression.

Adding to all this is the contribution of public transport which includes autos, buses and rickshaws. Autos are the small speed monsters on roads which are always trying to squeeze in between the vehicles and win the battle against time. Buses in Delhi are termed as killers on wheels. These buses can be private buses, DTC buses or even tourist buses. The bus drivers are often drunk and drive very rashly. Not only that there are often competitions between the bus drivers to outdo each other. Now if you are traveling by bus and plan to doze a little on the journey, forget it, the bus drivers will make sure you hold onto your seats, eyes wide awake, and get to experience the roller coaster ride for a lifetime. A journey at a normal speed that will take you 45minutes will take only 20 minutes in a DTC bus. But the guarantee that you will reach your destination in one piece is doubtful. There is one very good thing if you are traveling in bus, you need not get down from the bus, just stand near the gate and everyone else around you will push you out. This increasing the chances of accidents and then that particular road is blocked causing a traffic jam. Rickshaw is the transport that moves the slowest only because it is manual.One important factor that adds to the traffic problem is the bad roads.

MCD makes it a point to dig up every road that is possible and to keep as many as manholes open again diverting the traffic. So finding people driving on footpath is not a rare phenomenon because that is the only place available. And as they say “when it rains, it pours” similarly in the rainy season, drainage system gets flooded so all the water is on the roads, and you can see how well your vehicle can swim and drive at the same time. In the rainy season it is advisable to get up at 6am if you want to reach some place by 9am as you find bumper to bumper traffic inviting you with open arms.

Delhi is a house to a large number of politicians so if one of (VIP) politicians plans to go out then that road is blocked for normal citizens and again you wait anxiously for the blocked traffic to move.You may hardly find traffic policemen on Delhi roads, worsening the situation. Now the question arises how can the problem be solved and the solutions lie in the problems itself.

Few of them that I could think of:-

•Increase the speed at which constructions of flyovers and metros take place.•Come up with the concept of carpools.

•Make stringent laws for traffic control and maintain more traffic policemen on the roads.

•Improve the conditions of the roads.

•Improve the drainage systems of roads.

•Give proper training to bus drivers and only whose pass all the tests should be allowed to touch the bus.

In the end I would just say that it is much more reliable to depend on your legs than a vehicle on Delhi roads.