WHEN TO STOP, LOOK, GO, ASK PUZZLED DRIVERS 

Traffic lights in the city are creating havoc in Ranchi. No one knows when they work and when they don't.

At 10.40am on Friday, a man on motorbike was having this heated argument with a traffic warden at Sahajanand Chowk on Harmu Bypass Road. While the warden was asking him to proceed, the man pointed to the traffic lights.

"It is still amber, let it change to green," he said. After about a minute of arguing, the man on the bike realised the signal wasn't working.

Similar drama is playing out on virtually every intersection.

At a time when the district administration has launched a crackdown against traffic offenders, the issue of erratic and non-functioning traffic lights too should be addressed too, say commuters.

DSP (traffic) Dilip Khalkho admitted traffic lights were creating problems. "Earlier, traffic lights used to be maintained by the road construction department. Now, Ranchi Municipal Corporation has taken up the job. Till, RMC is able to set in place a permanent arrangement, things are unlikely to get better."

Rajesh Kumar, a grocery shop owner, had a run-in with a policeman while coming from Ratan Talkies Chowk on Main Road a week ago.

"I was on my motorbike going towards Over Bridge from Sarjana Chowk when a traffic policeman stopped me even though there was no red light. I was so upset that I started arguing with him. But, he explained to me that the traffic signal wasn't working. I apologised for shouting at him and luckily, he let me go," Kumar said.

Balram Singh, a retired CCL employee residing at Boreya, spoke of his ordeal at Jail More roundabout where malfunctioning traffic lights meant that they were all flashing green at the same time leading to several near-misses among vehicles and two-wheelers.

"Fortunately for me, I was able to apply the brakes on time," Singh said.

SP (traffic) Sanjay Ranjan Singh sounded helpless. "There are as many as 21 traffic signals in the city. Every day, we receive reports from one or two places that the lights have stopped working. We take the help of Bharat Heavy Electricals for repairing them on an ad hoc basis since BHEL used to maintain them earlier," he said.