Bharti Arora Harassment Case

Bharti Arora harassment case - The transfer of Gurgaon DCP (traffic) Bharti Arora amid her legal battle with the private concessionaire of Delhi-Gurgaon expressway raised many questions. Arora had been fighting the case against poor performance of the contractor. The 1998 batch IPS and an alumnus of Delhi University’s Miranda House had presented a foolproof case against the contractor in the high court. While Bharti Arora court order moves on to her next assignment as police chief of Rewari, she shares her experience with Aditya Dev. Bharti Arora Police Officer

Viable solutions on NH-8

“We have been repeatedly asking the NHAI and DGSCL to install more toll gates, introduce staggered lane system, mobile ticketing and find engineering solutions to traffic going towards Ambience Mall from Udyog Vihar side. We constantly emphasized on opening of Udyog Vihar link road which would take 20-40 % burden off the main carriageway. Now, I am happy that the private concessionaire has agreed to most of our suggestions. You will see a lot of improvement in the coming months. Road infrastructure like foot overbridges, underpasses and flyovers are not only vital to smoothen traffic movement, but also to save many lives which are lost in accidents. Construction of the remaining FOBs on the stretch between Rajiv Chowk and Kherki Dhaula will reduce pedestrian casualties. HUDA has in principle agreed to build underpasses at Rajiv Chowk, IFFCO Chowk and South City.” Bharti Arora vs Union of India

On slip roads and connectivity

“To make people respect traffic rules. It is a continuous process that needs awareness programmes, besides issuing challans. Another issue is the problem of traffic congestion on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway. Traffic jams extending to several kilometers were happening on a daily basis. We kept writing letters to various agencies – HUDA, MCG, NHAI and DGSCL, among others – to improve the situation. There was no response for many months, but things started improving after Praveen Kumar took over as HUDA administrator. Removal of roundabouts, construction of slip roads, and expansion of service lanes at major intersections opened many bottlenecks. There is a shortage of manpower in our department and it needs at least four times more staff. Recruitment is under way now in Haryana police, so let’s hope for the best.”

On experience in Gurgaon

“My two years in Gurgaon have been quite enriching. The residents appreciated the efforts taken to improve the traffic situation. Our Facebook page played a bridge between the department and the people, who told us about their problems as well as gave us suggestions. When I started, the road infrastructure in Gurgaon was in a mess due to which traffic snarls were an everyday affair. Drunk driving was a big menace resulting in several deaths. Traffic challan figures were below one lakh. That figure doubled within a year and crossed 3 lakh in the second year. While I succeeded in improving some of the things, I wanted to do a lot more.”

Two permanent bottlenecks

“The incumbent DCP will need to take the issues being raised by our department to their logical conclusion. The new DCP should take up the issue of Hero Honda Chowk and Kherki Dhaula toll plaza. These two spots on the e-way are major bottlenecks. Road safety officers (citizen volunteers), who have been doing a good job, should be further utilized.”