GUNTUR: The joint efforts of the Guntur traffic police and the Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC) to rein in the traffic congestion in the city appear to be paying dividends.
As part of the vehicular traffic decongestion initiatives, the authorities have launched a cellar clearance drive to remove business establishments in the cellars. This provided enough parking place for the vehicles. Parking on roads has been one of the major reasons for traffic problems in the city.
The Guntur Urban police have been brought into force several traffic restrictions to ease the traffic flow on busy roads. ``Apart from widening the roads and removing encroachments, we have implemented One-Way rule for the vehicles coming towards Lalapet from Kanyaka Parameswari Temple and Eluru Bazar. Similar restrictions have been put in place in Brodipet. There are yielding positive results,” said a traffic police officer.
Similarly, restricting entry to school and college buses on the busy Sankar Vilas Over-bridge has ensured free flow of vehicular traffic during the peak hours. The school and college buses are now plying via Kankaragunta over-bridge.
Shifting of the private bus parking to Mangaldas Nagar and Ponnur Road has eased the congestion around the APSRTC bus station.
“As per the feedback received from the public, the recent steps have yielded positive results. But, the traffic flow could further rise once the capital city works begin and we are bracing up to meet the challenge,” the Guntur Urban SP Sarva Sreshta Tripathi said.