The traffic system in Bhubaneswar seems to have caught the eyes of Patna police to ease the city roads of snarls.

A team led by Patna traffic superintendent of police Chandrika Prasad would visit the Odisha capital for a week to study the traffic system operating there.

The focus would be to know how the electronic traffic signals work, so that it could be replicated in Patna.

After the team returns from Odisha, a surveyor would be finalised to take a look at Patna’s traffic operations. The surveyor is likely to be from Odisha. Then, a month-long assessment of all the traffic pressure points in the city would be done.

Prasad said the cops have contacted senior traffic police officers of Bhubaneswar and have got the nod from them.

“Of what we have studied till now is that the traffic in Bhubaneswar is similar to that of Patna. The traffic system of that city was chaotic. However, proper traffic management led to smooth traffic flow there. There has been a lot of improvement. We had contacted them (Odisha officers) seeking help. On Wednesday we got a call from a senior Odisha police officer, who assured us support. A team would be visiting Bhubaneswar next week and would stay for at least seven days to study the traffic system there. By August, we want to set up electronic traffic signals in Patna. The Odisha trip is the first major step in this connection,” Prasad told The Telegraph.

The officer added that once the team is back, the city police would invite a surveyor who could be from Odisha.

“We are hoping that the surveyor or a group of experts would be from Odisha. We will invite them to stay in Patna for a month. During this time, the experts would take a look at the city roads and ascertain the traffic pressure points. The focus would be more on roads and the areas that witness heavy traffic jams. The experts will then have to come up with a report, which will be studied and a decision will be taken based on it,” Prasad said.

Earlier, the police had said they were in two minds regarding installation of electronic traffic signals stating that running such signals in Patna was not feasible. Later, the cops back-tracked from the statement saying they were trying to hire an agency to conduct a survey on setting up electronic signals in Patna.