Nagpur: Nearly 95% of road markings and mandatory signages in the city are not up to the mark, contributing to the rise in traffic rule violations, at times inadvertently, leading to accidents. Faulty traffic signals and timers too lead to thousands of violations without motorists being at fault. This was revealed by a study carried out by volunteers of Janakrosh, a city-based NGO, involved in creating traffic awareness, that supports the government for an efficient and safe traffic management system.The study ‘Status of traffic control deficiencies on intersections’ conducted by the NGO also revealed that most primary and secondary traffic signals were not functioning as per the prescribed standards.“There is a dire need for a joint meeting with traffic police, engineers and consequently all those who are responsible for decision making, operation, maintenance and management of road traffic,” Ashok Karandikar of Janakrosh said.A total of 87 traffic intersections were surveyed across the city since 2015. It was found that 80% of mandatory traffic essentials like zebra crossings, stop lines, signals failed to meet requirements under the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) code.The IRC code has set several parameters for three types of road signs — regulatory, warning and informative signages and they include characteristics like installation, location and visibility for correct application. “One of the crucial non-standard applications observed was the no marking of stop lines, zebra lines, lane marking. Of the 87 intersections, mandatory signages were okay only at three junctions. Absence of important signages leads to lack of traffic awareness and ends up with rise in violations,” the study observed.To overcome such situations, the NGO suggested a permanent arrangement using coloured paver blocks where stop lines, zebra crossings are either missing or not visible.The survey conducted at traffic intersections found that most of the primary and secondary traffic signals were either defunct or were installed inappropriately. “One of the major deficiencies is lack of backup mechanism when power snaps. There should be inverters or solar backup panels,” the study suggested.Even road dividers were a cause for mishaps as on many busy roads these are not visible. Hence, dividers too need cat’s eyes or reflectors or fluorescent red paint for visibility, particularly at night, it said.According to the study, many statutes have been erected at wrong locations with respect to traffic. Citing an example, the study pointed out need to relocate the statue of Veer Sawarkar at Shankar Nagar Square as it obstructs free flow of traffic.Wrongly placed bus shelters near busy junctions also hamper free flow of traffic and put the life of commuters at risk. A case in point is the shelter near Akashwani Square, the study pointed out.Janakrosh team leader Ramesh Sahare said: “Simple road engineering measures like provision of appropriate road markings and traffic signs, minor layout changes at road junctions and fully functional traffic signals can significantly reduce road accidents and resultant chaos.”Motorists must follow traffic rules, he said, adding red signal jumping, riding triple seat on a two-wheeler, parking under the ‘No Parking’ sign board, wrong entry in one-way road etc have increased manifold and need to be controlled.What the study observed* Need to ensure timers are functional at all signals as it can curb jumping of red lights* Islands having railings and advertisement boards should be removed and could be used as zebra passage for pedestrians* Footpaths to be reorganized and freed from encroachments* Railings along footpaths having openings only at zebra crossings so that pedestrians can cross road from there* There should be no bus stops within 200-300 meters of intersections* Displaying names of streets in Marathi, Hindi and English

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