Overview
- Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari inaugurated the central live traffic control room at Arakshya Bhaban on Friday and used it to view live camera feeds from checkposts including Farakka, Palsit, Dankuni and Dhulagarh.
- A toll-free 24-hour helpline, 18003458922, was launched for traffic complaints and officials say a WhatsApp complaint channel and mobile link will be introduced soon.
- Adhikari ordered district magistrates and police chiefs to prepare local traffic-management plans and to identify land for designated parking in Darjeeling and Kalimpong with technical guidance from the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and the Border Roads Organisation.
- The state has mobilised funding for road and traffic work, citing Rs 249 crore released for 465 schemes from the Disaster Management Fund and a Rs 360 crore traffic-management allocation in the budget with Rs 63 crore already released.
- Officials said repairs to defunct CCTVs, upgrades to traffic kiosks, deployment of extra personnel and consideration of automated control systems will follow, and the control room will monitor and investigate repeated late-night jams to protect emergency access and schoolchildren in hill towns; the chief minister plans an on-site review on October 7.