Mumbai: Several times a day, some of the busiest junctions in the suburbs are absolutely free of traffic for several seconds on end. These are the times when the green signal is yet to finish its down-count though vehicles have cleared the road. These are also the very moments when the pulse rate of motorists on the perpendicular road increases by several beats. The BMC says it wants to put an end to such anguish.

By 2017, the civic body intends to finish installing smart signals at 367 of the busiest junctions in the suburbs. At present, 253 such signals exist in south and central Mumbai, which started being installed from 2007 with World Bank funding of Rs 72 crore.