FLO ANNUAL PROGRAMME SEASON 7 FACE TO FACE WITH THE GOVERNMENT 3 Traffic Commissioners of Delhi, Gurgaon & Noida PANEL DISCUSSION ON TRAFFICCONCERNS OF NCR

‘Face to Face with the Government’ is FLO’s annual flagship event to facilitate women’s interactions with various government agencies on various issues and concerns of women.

For the last six years, FLO has had the special privilege of bringing the senior most administrators of Delhi Government for programme. This year the programme entered its 7th year and the theme was Traffic Concerns in NCR. The Season 7 was organised on October 17th, 2015 at FICCI.

As a responsible part of the civil society, it is not only the prerogative and accountability of the law enforcement bodies for upkeeping law and order, but the civil society also owes great responsibility towards the maintenance of law and order.

Given this background, FLO organised this session with the 3 Traffic Commissioners from Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida along with the CMD of DTTDC , who came together for an exclusive interaction with the civil society. The objective of this interaction was to voice the pertinent traffic concerns of the citizens of NCR and accelerate the process of effective redressal of the same.

The distinguished Panelists were:

• Dr. Muktesh Chander , IPS – Spl Commissioner of Police-Traffic, Delhi
• Shri Navdeep Singh Virk , IPS – Commissioner of Police -Gurgaon
• Shri Kiran S. , IPS – SSP , Noida
• Shri Keshav Chandra, Chairman & Managing Director, Delhi Tourism & Transportation Development Corporation Ltd

Archana Garodia Gupta, FLO President while welcoming the Government officials said, “It is important to bridge the communication gap between the civil society and the government for an improved redressal of issues and concerns. The annual event of FLO ‘Face to Face with the Government’ is an effective platform to take it forward. This time, we have taken us the traffic concerns in NCR as it is perhaps one of the most wearisome issues that we face in our daily lives. ”

The Panelists unanimously agreed that the traffic in Delhi- NCR was grappling with the issues of badly designed roads, footpaths and pavements; overflow of traffic from neighbouring places; inappropriate user-behaviour; lack of enforcement of traffic laws and road rage.

Dr. Chander said that the motto of Delhi Traffic Police was ‘Mobility with Safety’. It was essential that safety became a key rider and in the past road accidents have come down considerably owing to the efforts made by the Delhi Traffic police. He added that to minimize the traffic chaos in the city, there was a need for policy intervention and stricter enforcement of law. The New Motor Vehicle Act which is pending in Parliament could help in resolving the traffic issues as it prescribes severe punishments for violation of traffic rules.

Mr. Navdeep Singh Virk, Commissioner of Police, Gurgaon, said that the traffic police in Gurgaon faced a severe shortage of resources and the government was forthcoming in trying to bridge this gap. However, to deal with traffic congestion at present, community has come up in a big way to help traffic police. In Gurgaon on Tuesdays, people are encouraged to travel either by public transport or use bicycles and with time many corporates have joined the campaign voluntarily. He added that ‘Society for Safe Gurgaon’ had also been set up in PPP mode for creating harmony in the city.

Mr. Kiran S., SSP, Noida, said that in the last 15 years Noida had become a hub for IT and call center industries, which led to at least six peak timings instead of the usual two peak hours during the day, and resulted in traffic congestion even at night. He added that traffic was governed by 3 Es – Education, Engineering and Enforcement – and Noida traffic police was working on the parameters to ease traffic issues.

Speaking on pollution, an issue related to increasing vehicles and traffic in the city, Mr. Keshav Chandra, Chairman & Managing Director, Delhi Tourism & Transportation Development Corporation Ltd., said that with the rise in vehicles quality of life was being affected in the city and the main culprit was the upsurge in diesel vehicles. He added that instead of subsidizing the cost of diesel, it should be priced at a higher rate to encourage people to switch to petrol vehicles.

Harjinder Kaur, Jt Treasurer, FLO coordinated the programme and hosted the lunch along with Ms Kiran Sharma, FLO member.

FLO Past President, Kiran Gera moderated the session.