HC asks authorities to consider plea for dedicated lane for emergency vehicles

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the concerned authorities to treat as representation a plea seeking a dedicated lane for free and round the clock movement of emergency vehicles.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh said that a policy decision on this will be made in accordance with rules, law and policy applicable in the facts of the case. "It all depends on the width of a road and traffic on the road. We direct the respondents to treat the petition as a representation," the legal bench said.

The petition filed by Vinay Kumar sought direction to the Delhi Transport Department and Delhi Police to reserve a dedicated lane for unrestricted movement of emergency services throughout the day on all seven days of a week.

The plea also sought a direction to Delhi Police to make sure that an immediate compliance, implementation and enforcement of the law and issue direction is sent to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority. Thus, they will be able to provide the required support, framework and infrastructure and resources for implementation of the desired outcome.

Highlighting the need for such dedicated emergency lanes, the plea highlighted that this will benefit people to reach hospitals or clinics as quickly as possible. It further quoted a report which revealed that Delhi has 56 per cent traffic congestion and that on an average, 190 hours are lost in traffic congestion.

Apart from medical services, the response time of other emergency services such as police and fire departments have also increased due to the massive traffic congestions on roads everyday. "As it is the fundamental duty of the state to provide timely medical aid to every citizen, it is of utmost importance that such infrastructure is created that emergency services are provided free unrestricted passage, 24 hours and 7 days a week," the plea read.

(with input from agencies)