<p> Sri Lanka will deploy troops to help police control worsening traffic congestion in the capital, the army said Monday.</p>.<p>President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a retired army officer, ordered the military to assist traffic officers at the main entry and exit points to Colombo, a city which nearly a million people enter or leave daily, a spokesman said.</p>.<p>The military police will also lend support "in any other area where their services are required", spokesman Chandana Wickremasinghe added.</p>.<p>Traffic slows to a snail's space in Colombo during the morning and evening rush hours making it one of the slowest road systems in South Asia.</p>.<p>Recent studies have shown average speeds drop below seven kilometres (4.3 miles) an hour in the morning and the evening.</p>.<p>The capital does not have a mass transit system, forcing many to use their own transport that chokes the narrow streets.</p>.<p>But Sri Lanka began work on its first light rail transit system last year at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion. The Japanese-funded project is expected to be operational within about five years.</p>
<p> Sri Lanka will deploy troops to help police control worsening traffic congestion in the capital, the army said Monday.</p>.<p>President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a retired army officer, ordered the military to assist traffic officers at the main entry and exit points to Colombo, a city which nearly a million people enter or leave daily, a spokesman said.</p>.<p>The military police will also lend support "in any other area where their services are required", spokesman Chandana Wickremasinghe added.</p>.<p>Traffic slows to a snail's space in Colombo during the morning and evening rush hours making it one of the slowest road systems in South Asia.</p>.<p>Recent studies have shown average speeds drop below seven kilometres (4.3 miles) an hour in the morning and the evening.</p>.<p>The capital does not have a mass transit system, forcing many to use their own transport that chokes the narrow streets.</p>.<p>But Sri Lanka began work on its first light rail transit system last year at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion. The Japanese-funded project is expected to be operational within about five years.</p>