City Transport TRAILER-BUS SERVICE In a bid to ease the heavy passenger traffic in Bombay, the BEST Undertaking operated on an experimental basis a trailerbus service from Sion Circle to Victoria Gardens on January 21 and 23. It was driven by the undertaking's chief insp ctor driver. There is now only one vehicle with a seating capacity of 95. An official of the undertaking said that the idea of making the chief inspector-driver operate the vehicle was to see if it was difficult to manoeuvre on the city highway from Sion to Victoria Gardens amidst heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic. If the experiment proves successful, the undertaking may consider the introduction of trailer-buses on its routes. The BEST Workers' Union, following protests from the drivers, opposed the introduction of "this ugly monster on the streets of this city." A statement from the union general secretary said that the drivers are opposed to driving the trailer-bus. The 74-foot-long trailer bus is "too unwieldy" to drive on the roads which are not good and are "too thick" with pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The drivers also feel that the rate of accidents will sharply increase if the trailer-bus is plied. Mr. J. B. D'Souza, general manager of the undertaking said in an interview on January 23 that the trailer-bus service, has come to stay. Mr. C. D. Jefferies, chief traffic manager, was at the wheel when the trailerbus was put on the road on January 21. In spite of his being deprived of the use of one of his eyes, Mr. Jefferies was "quite satisfied with the operation of the service," the general manager stated. The bus was run for 12 hours on January 21, and had lifted 1,700 passengers, the turnover being Rs. 250. "We want to continue the service, "he said. The trailer-bus also operated on January 23. The BEST Undertaking has assembled it in its workshop from part of old disused buses. "Once we have more such buses, we may consider the question of extending the service to other routes," said Mr. D'Souza. He did not think the objection of the drivers to the trailer-bus, described by their union as "an ugly monster", was serious. "I am sure they will come round," he added. A passenger who travelled by the bus said he had found it "quite comfortable, though a wee bit slow." Two others who took a ride were of the opinion that the trailer-bus service would be popular if operated from Chowpatty to Nariman Point along Marine Drive. "You do not feel at ease when the bus has to engineer turns." Bombay Bus Fare Rise The suit filed by Mr. Madhu Mehta, general secretary of the Swatantra Party (Bombay region), against the Bombay Municipal Corporation and others challenging the recent rise in bus fares and his appeal against the dismissal by a City Civil Court Judge of the notice of motion for an interim injunction were dismissed by Mr. Justice Chandrachud at the High Court in Bombay on January 23. At the hearing of the appeal on November 17, counsel for the plaintiff had stated that the suit and the appeal would be withdrawn if the Corporation passed a resolution for the appointment of a commission to inquire into the working of the BEST Uudertaking. The suit and the appeal, he said, were not intended to stiffle the fare-rise if the His Lordsnip was informed of the resolution passed by the Corporation on January 11 requesting the State Government to appoint a commission for a "comprehensive investigation" of the undertaking's affairs. In view of this development, the plaintiff did not press his suit, and the appeal, and his Lordship recorded and order that both stood dismissed. Mr. S.C. Chagla, instructed by Gagrat and Co., represented Mehta; Mr. Rajni Patel with Mr. C. K. Shah, instructed by Crawford Bayley and Co., appeared for the defendants. Road Safety SUBWAY FOR The pedestrian subway, built at Round Tana in Mount Road at a cost of Rs. 13.75 lakhs, was declared open on January 9 by the Chief Minister, Mr. M. Bhaktavatsalam. Mr. Bhaktavatsalam said that the traffic on the main city roads was increasing tremendously from year to year and there was need to put up such subways at all important places. He emphasised that subways were constructed at huge cost and the pedestrians should use them instead of crossing the roads at great risk to themselves. The function held in a decorated pandal at the spot began with a prayer song by N. C. Soundaravalli. Mr. O. Sivasankaran, Chief Engineer, Highways, who weicomed the guests, gave a few details about the subway. He said that it consisted of three tunnels with RCC Box Section with the top slab of the box being arched. A clear width of eight feet was provided for the stairs. The three tunnels met in a common circular area of 44 feet diameter provided in the middle. Water collecting in the subway was proposed to be drained in a suitable way. Mr. V. Ramaiah, Minister in charge of Public Works, said that traffic on the spot had more than doubled in the last three 'Safe Driver Roadeo' Esso organised a "Safe Driver Roadeo" contest the first of its kind in India, in Bombay on January 22 for its drivers "to determine their skill and MADRAS years and he was sure the police would get Mr. Bhaktava salam said it was also necessary to solve the problem posed by users of push cycles and scooters and motor cycles. They should be persuaded to wear helmets to avoid heat injuries, he said. 9 Die Of Accidents Per Hour Nine people on an average meet with accidental deaths per hour in India. According to a survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Investingation, 87,694 accidental deaths occurred in 1964. The survery completed in November last year took the CBI over two years to collect data from State police organizations. The survey does not cover Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala and Rajasthan. The CBI undertook the survey following a suggestion from the Central Advisory Committee on Forensic Science. The largest number of accidental deaths13,976-was reported from Maharashtra Pradesh-13,022-and followed by Uttar Madhya Pradesh-10,827. Among major cities in the country Bombay claimed the largest number of deaths1,839. Delhi had 794 deaths. A little over 33 per cent of the deaths (29,362) were due to drowning, the highest number, 4,315, being in Maharashtra. Next, Andhra deaths-and came U. P.-3989 motoring know-how" Pradesh-3,759. and to "inculcate a sense of safety on the road in the drivers." Mr. Kartik Mahto bagged the first prize of Rs. 500. Six finalists were awarded certificates. Mr. A. A. Jasden vala, president, Safety First Association of India, gave away the prizes, Mr. J. B. Hanna, Esso assistant general manager, spoke on Esso's safety programme. Among Union territories, Tripura reported 200 cases of drowning and Delhi 141. Accidental fires in 1964 were responsible for the loss of 8,421 (9.6 per cent) lives, while the railways accounted for 6,772 deaths (7.7 der cent), 5,850 people died on account of animal bite. Road accidents claimed 4,337 (4.9 per cent), while 3,631 people were victims of food poisoning. Cables are always a long-term investment. Don't speculate-specify INCAB. If the paper insulated power cables The insulation on ordinary paper insulated power cables is saturated For vertical runs and steep gradients such as mineshaft by INCAB-The Indian Cable Company Limited. CONTRACTS DEPARTMENT INCAB's Contracts Department has for nearly half a century and more successfully carried out the electrification of every type of project-including many of the major ones undertaken during the Five Year Plans. And INCAB, as part of the world's largest cablemaking group, BICC, stays in step with the very latest technological developments taking place the world over. So be it a power station, industrial establishment, railway or city electrification projectINCAB's Contracts Department can do it best. INCAB THE INDIAN CABLE COMPANY LIMITED quality cablemakers-first and foremost Street Lighting PROBLEM OF Parking of vehicles is becoming an unmanageable problem in the Indian Capital. This is not surprising since the number of motor vehicles rose from 11,931 in 1950 to 85,700 by the end of 1965. That Delhi should have multistoreyed constructions as car parks has now been accepted in principle. Sites for over half a dozen multi-storeyed car parks have tentatively been selected. They are near the Super Bazar, Hanuman Temple on Irwin Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi railway station, Delhi railway station, Chandni Chowk, Kazi Hauz and Asaf Ali Road. An underground car park is to be built opposite Regal Cinema. To reduce parking difficulties in Connaught Place and the shopping area on Janpath it has time and again been suggested that a corner of the LIC plot be levelled and turned into a car park. The New Delhi Municipal Committee has paid little heed to it. The plea that car owners do not like to park their vehicles away from the shops they visit is no longer valid. The time has come for car parks to be situated away from the main roads to facilitate free flow of traffic. As long as the safety of parked cars is ensured through the provision of suitable car-minders, there is no reason way the public should complain. Sooner or later, and the sooner the better, the driving public will have to get used to the idea of waking a few hundred yards to reach shopping centres. Poor lighting The municipal authorities have done little so far to rationalize the system of parking by providing adequate parking space. Cars are parked all over the main roads adding to the traffic congestion. They have paid scant attention to street lighting, and particularly lighting at traffic points. Even on clear nights it is not always easy to make out the traffic policeman's indications. PARKING Instances of violation of parking as well as other traffic regulations are on the increase in the Capital. This is not surprising in view of the fact that as many as 200 learner licences are issued by the Delhi Transport Authority each day. The traffic police have found that some drivers continue to drive on learner licences for as long as five years without going through regular driving tests. The enforcement of parking regulations has also been extremely lax, particularly in the past few months. This is a fact which officials reluctantly admit. The Delhi police moreover, want to be empowered to take to the ticket system whereby a challan can be affixed on the spot on any wrongly parked car. The present system of serving challans is somewhat cumbersome. The ticket system will certainly make for saving manpower and should prove effective. (Continued from page 11) of Rs. 18 lakhs, in Madurai with collaboration from Czechoslovakia. The various schemes of the Housing Board in different parts of the districts could not be carried out according to schedule and the work would have to be slowed down because of paucity of funds, said Mr. Bhango. He said the Board would at least require Rs. one crore immediately "to keep the works going." On the steps taken by the Government to overcome this difficulty, he said, in a few places including Madras City, the Board converted some of the projects under the rental housing schemes into "hire purchase" ones. so as to get enough funds. The response from the public was depressing. In Madras City alone, for the 300 houses there was demand only for 14. |