It is five pm and the traffic control room at Vikas Minar has already received over 20 complaints of jams.

“The past few days have been the busiest, the rain has been causing vehicle breakdowns and jams,” said Traffic Inspector J N Dikshit.

Inspector Dikshit is the in-charge of all activity at the Traffic Control Room, which functions from a cramped room on the twenty-first floor of Vikas Minar, ITO.

On a typical day, Dikshit and his men are on the “hot seat”, coordinating traffic movement across Delhi. If any of the 725 traffic lights stop working, or if there is a jam, the 22 officers there, each in-charge of an area, contact their field officers.

“The work station is divided into 22 nets — each constitutes areas or traffic movement of a certain kind. For instance, the officer in-charge of the VIP net monitors all VIP movements on a particular day,” said Inspector Dikshit.

The joint commissioner of police and his staff also monitor all traffic movement through their surveillance systems.

The sub-station at Teen Murti Marg provides information on traffic jams. Area Traffic Control signals, supposed to be technically advanced, are also being used at 46 intersections across the city.

The ATCs detect traffic volume and provide the feedback to a central computer at the Teen Murti traffic sub-station. Accordingly, the software sets the timing for the whole signal network. As soon as a complaint is received, the officer monitoring the particular net informs his field officer, who in turn informs the traffic constable.

... contd.