An inoperative traffic signal in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 26: At a time when police are planning to modernise traffic management in the city, most traffic signals installed at various intersections are lying defunct.

Local residents are apprehending trouble as a heavy downpour would further decrease visibility and make the roads more accident-prone.

The city has 17 functional traffic posts but traffic lights are not functioning at most of these intersections. A reality check by The Telegraph revealed that lights at Rabi Talkies Square, Kalpana Square, Ram Mandir Square and PMG Square have not been functioning for the past few months.

At PMG Square, a traffic light is dangling from the pole in a precarious condition and could fall any time.

Besides, traffic signals at Nalco Chhak, Damana, Patia and KIIT Square are not functioning for past few weeks. “The police should repair the signals at the earliest,” said Abhisek Mohanty, a city resident.

In the absence of signals, the traffic situation at Kalpana Square and Rabi Talkies Square has become chaotic. During peak hours, when both these intersections are chock-a-block with vehicles, navigating the stretch has become a nightmare for commuters. The situation is worse at Rabi Talkies Square where four roads converge.

Police officials said goons often cut wires of the signals, which run on electricity. “All the traffic posts are provided with adequate manpower to manage traffic manually. But we will repair the defunct signals soon,” said assistant commissioner of police (traffic), Binod Das.

A number of complaints against the defunct traffic signals have been posted on the Facebook page of the Commissionerate police.

Significantly, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed to install upgraded signals called Intelligent Traffic System (ITS) in the city. The project would cover as many as 42 traffic posts including the existing 17 traffic posts.

The proposal was made after an Andhra Pradesh-based private firm approached the civic body for installation of solar traffic signalling systems in the city in January this year. The system enables each signal pole to use solar power and wireless communication for light controls. The new system will use a single light to produce yellow, red, and green arrow signals. Officials in the BMC said that the corporation would float a tender soon to implement ITS.