Indian Road Safety Campaign

Phase: 5

(Implementation Report)

Significant growth in population, urbanization, travelling necessities and increased traffic flow has been observed in most of our metropolitan cities recently, leading to considerable traffic. And it is the important transportation parameters which determine the efficient movement of the people and freight. This report seeks to highlight the inconvenience caused due to traffic problems and attempts to fetch the most significant solution on the basis of the broad survey carried out in the concerned locality.

Signed letter by Surat Municipal Corporation

Stamp on the first page of the entire report (Physical copy) which is submitted

to Surat Municipal Corporation

Location of the case study State : Gujarat City : Surat

Area : Udhna

Co-ordinates of location

1) Udhna darwaja, Sagrampura, Surat (21.1835°N, 72.8306°E)

2) Udhna teen rasta, Udhna zone, Surat (21.170366°N, 72.840017°E)

3) Road near Khatodara flyover, Udhna, Surat (21.180001°N, 72.833065°E)

About the City

Surat is the economic capital and former princely state in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the eighth largest city and ninth largest urban agglomeration in India. Surat is the 4th "cleanest city of India" according to the Indian Ministry of Urban Development, and 4th fastest growing city of the world. Surat is famous for its food, textile, zari, and diamonds. Surat polishes over 90 percent of the world's rough diamond. Surat is also known as the Textile hub or the Silk city of India.

Acknowledgement

It gives me immense pleasure to apprise that we have accomplished the given task.

It was a great opportunity to serve for the good cause and we are grateful to Indian

Road Safety Campaign (IRSC) team to provide us this wonderful platform. It was a

wonderful experience in carrying out this challenging and industrious work. We

have left no stone unturned to make this work a successful venture. In the course

of all the four phases, we came across many different types of people, suggestions,

ideas, and problems. With the absolute dedication and hard work of our team

members, we have overcome all the barriers and achieved our goal.

Implementation of our solution looked demanding at the initial stage but further

with the support of mentors and professionals it became achievable. Traffic Cell &

BRTS cell of SMC (Surat Municipality Corporation) is responsible for adding wings

to our work and because of them, we are able to get our solutions implemented.

This report includes Problem statements, their solution, and evidence of

implementation.

Problem 1 Condemned roads and broken gutter incites the accidents and road safety issue near Khatodara flyover

The road alongside the khatodara flyover is poorly maintained and has menacing obstructions in between the road. This hinders the speed of the vehicles leading to accidents caused by sudden stoppages. Also people approaching wrong side, increases the probability of accidents here. In the monsoon, rain water accumulation exacerbate the whole situation.

Solution according to suggestions presented by us

Proper road construction is required near khatodara flyover to prevent any dangerous accidents.

Condemned road near khatodara flyover is threatening dangerous accidents. Damaged, exposed gutters on this route is difficult to observe if someone is driving in front of your vehicle. One can easily fall into these gutters and may injure themselves. Road is not properly maintained and have many potholes throughout the road. Water gets accumulated during the monsoon time makes the potholes invisible and in this case, drivers are unaware about the threats and can easily fall for it. Wrong side driving is very usual in this area, which exacerbate the whole situation.

Implemention

Roads are reconstructed & repaired and gutter are covered with metal

stripes

It was a enthusiastic response from the authority. As soon as we showcased the

problem to them, the department had worked upon it and agreed with our solution

and geared up to get it Implemented. Below are the images displaying the past and

current situation.

Leveling and proper construction of the road near the Indian petrol pump at

aman nagar

Before After

Officials have done impressive job in improving the quality of the construction and

this implementation is one of the quickest to get implemented due to its threat to

the commuters especially in the rainy season. One can clearly judge the amount of

efforts and sincerity shown by the authority to implement our solution.

Reinforcement in the damaged gutter and condemned roads besides Khatodara

flyover

Before After

“Magnifying View”

Problem 2

Redundant tracks alongside the main road decreases the road stretch

Walkways/cycling lanes alongside the main road do not address the specific purpose of traffic control. Mostly the road is not utilized and serve no purpose but to minimize the stretch of the main road. During monsoon time, rainwater accumulates in the cycling track and is being home for cultivating diseases. Also, unofficial parking discourage the one who attempt to use the cycling track.

Solution according to suggestions presented by us

Cycling tracks alongside the main road are not fulfilling any purpose and should be removed to ease the current traffic scenario.

Cycling tracks are constructed in order to separate the cyclist from the main road. Cyclists are unable to keep up to the pace of traffic and may invite accidents and traffic jams. So, to provide them safe and secure lane was the primary intention of these cycling tracks.

But, over a period of time of its implementation, it is observed that rarely any cyclist uses these tracks and the tracks have become notorious spot for the unauthorized parking. These vacant cycling lanes are also attracting public gathering in the night time. Apart from these, stretch of the main road is also restricted due to theses cycling tracks.

These lanes are not continues and have many intermediate breakages. Any illegal parking in these interruptions raises troubles for handful, who are using these cycling tracks.

Implemention

Cycling tracks are allowed to damage, not being looked forward for

reconstruction

This was a major issue we need to deal with because it consists of appreciable man-hours and finance. Firstly authorities were not in favor with this solution they seem

to ditch this situation but we repeatedly draw their attention towards this problem as these cycling lanes were built on guidelines that need to be observed. Finally they agreed to forward this issue to higher authority. On discussing with them we came to know that directly removing cycling lane is not favorable although its beneficial, hence they given us a valid solution which stated that, let the cycling tracks destroy by its own and then it will not be reconstructed and shattered parts will be cleared on the regular basis. After this conversation we examined this for about two months and observed appreciable decrease in length of cycling lane.

Misuse of the cycling track (Past)

Broken cycling track, not looked upon for reconstruction (Present)

Above images suggest the level of attention drawn by the authority to overcome the problem persist for long time in the udhna area by considering the points put forwarded by us in the report presented to them. This is one of the crucial stpes taken by the municipal corporation to improve the issue of road safety in the Udhna

Continues width of cycling track,

inviting the illegal parking, also,

allowed the vehicles to pass through

it (Past)

Cycling lane allowed to get damaged

and slightly pushed inward at intervals

to avoid the four wheelers to pass

through it and prevent unauthorized

parking (Present)

Problem 3

Problems related to BRTS lane

BRTS facility was started in order to answer the traffic issues present in the area by using public transportation and to reduce number of private vehicle usage. But this solution has not met the expectation yet.

Due to the BRTS tracks the road stretch has been reduced and traffic has increased. Long traffic jams encourage driver to drive through BRTS lane. This immature decision to interrupt in the BRTS lane is hampering the bus speed and schedules. Although driving in BRTS is violating the law but the absence of traffic officials at the every BRTS junction in turn encourages the motorist to often drive in BRTS tracks. Several accident cases have also been noted regarding the same. Issues like promoting the usage of BRTS and prohibiting other vehicles in the BRTS should be addressed with permanent solution.

Solution according to suggestions presented by us

A. Permanent solution for prohibiting the private vehicles in the BRTS track should

be implemented. This will stop fatal accidents and helps BRTS run smoothly on

the tracks

B. Need of traffic police personnel at the kharwar nagar junction, near the canal

road

C. Railing size of BRTS lane should be increase

Implemention

A. Swinging doors are build in BRTS lane (Near Kharwar nagar junction)

BRTS was introduced to ease the transportation for locals but eventually it proved to be more burdensome as it invited many traffic problems and keeping this in mind, we come up with few solutions to overcome these barriers. According to

2017 traffic report, traffic has been reportedly increased after BRTS construction. During peak hours traffic reaches to maximum and this encourage people to drive their vehicles in the BRTS lane. Therefore, we suggested authorities to make gates, which only opens for BRTS buses, and this can resist private vehicles to enter BRTS lane. And YES!!! We did it once again, swinging gates were build up to cope up with this problem. When we suggested this solution, we came to know that this project is under process but they were not sure to install it. Our team encourage them and presented many data, which consists advantages and disadvantages of gates, and they finally decided to implement this solution.

Private vehicle entering inside the BRTS lane interrupting the pace of bus and invites

the accidents (past)

Introduction of automatic swing gate, closed in the absence of BRTS bus (Present)

Automatic opening of the swing gate on the arrival of the BRTS bus (Present)

Problem 4

B. Along with this the place of traffic police booth near kharwar nagar

junction is also been changed and moved towards the center of the

road

At this junction, BRTS bus needs to drive through the main road, as there is no BRTS

track vicinity to the junction. Vehicles approaching from all the direction interrupt

the bus and threaten the accidents. Also, there is a complaint from the BRTS driver

that in an accident with the private vehicle at kharwar nagar junction, rear side of

the bus got damaged and he has to face the consequences although it was not his

fault. Traffic police at this junction would have prevented the accident.

Problematic situation persisted at the kharwar nagar junction, traffic police present

at the one side of the road (Past)

Solution according to suggestions presented by us

Traffic police at the kharwar nagar junction perform their duty only on one side (at Ambaji mandir). There are no traffic police on the other side at canal road. They should be divided on both side of the junction to manage the traffic effectively. We first suggested them to construct the traffic booth on the other side of the road as the traffic police are already present at the one side of the road. But, after long discussion and interaction with the higher authority and acquiring valuable inputs from the experts, the finalize decision of building the traffic booth in the middle of the junction itself to manage the BRTS bus and private vehicle flow. By doing so, requirement of traffic police on both the side can also be eliminated. Thus, here looking all the perspective, optimum solution was implemented.

Construction of traffic booth at the middle of the junction for efficient

management of flow of traffic (Present)

C. Increasing the size of the BRTS railing

This issue is currently brought forward to the higher authority to further looked

into the depth, matching the criteria and guidelines. Once cleared through these

procedure it will get implemented in near future.

Conclusion

In this report, we have discussed four instances where our solutions got

implemented. After looking at the successful implementation of the recommended

solutions and observing the ease of traffic and reduction in number of accidents

due to them in reality, we feel extremely motivated and delighted. Yet, we are not

overwhelmed by these achievements nor become complacent. We believe in hard

work with sheer dedication and we are currently working in implementing the

other solutions provided by us for the Udhna darwaja and Udhna teen rasta. We

are positive to get them implemented as well in upcoming months. We admire the

work carried out and support provided by the Surat Municipal Corporation in

effective execution of the recommendations and suggestions. Finally, We are in

debt to the IRSC team for providing us the opportunity and guiding us throughout

the entire course of this venture.

Thank You

Stamp by Surat Municipal Corporation on the Official letter head of IRSC