CAUTION: Go Slow, Chaos Ahead!

CAUTION: Go Slow, Chaos Ahead!

VIJAYAWADA:  With the official declaration of Vijayawada as the Capital of AP and with most of the government offices being relocated in the city, regulating traffic is likely to turn into a vexatious issue in the days ahead.

As traffic snarls are already a regular feature in the city, the VVIP convoys will only make the situation worse at Kanaka Durga Temple and Benz Circle as these are the points at which the two National Highways (NH-16 and NH-65) make entry into the city. The state government recently issued a circular to all departments seeking relocation of their offices to VGTM region.

As many as 53 departments comprising 20,000 employees are likely to shift to the Vijayawada region, leading to a traffic ruckus as there are only two major roads - Bandar Road and Eluru Road - connecting different parts of the city. Chaotic traffic on the city roads is a major problem for the commuters and with the inflow rate of people likely to double in the next few months, the traffic police are scratching their head on how to deal with the situation in the near future.

The offices of the health minister and the irrigation minister have already been established in the city while that of the endowments minister will be in place soon.

The CM recently said, “In the first phase, transport, fisheries and animal husbandry departments as well as the directorate of town planning will be established at Medha Tower in  Gannavaram by October 2.”

Meanwhile, a senior police officer said, “The works pertaining to the outer ring road and the flyover should be started with immediate effect which will make our work easy.” Stating that the traffic sense among the citizens was poor, he said irregular parking and heavy inflow of ‘no permit’ vehicles were the two major causes for the existing traffic snarls.

Agreeing with him, an official at the Transport Department emphasised upon the urgency of starting the works related to the Outer Ring Road and the flyover. “The CM’s vision to expand the highway into an eight-lane road will only increase the traffic problem,” he added.

Ch Srinivas, director of Centre for Continuous Learning and Research (CCLR), said, “An immediate action plan should be prepared by the government. The ORR is a must for the city as the rate of migration would increase in the next 10 years.”

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