BHUBANESWAR: The festive season in the state capital has brought cheer and with it, the headache of traffic snarls for the residents.The clogged National Highway-16 seems to be fuelling the long and excruciating congestion. Bumper-to-bumper traffic stretching for several kilometres, particularly during the evenings, have become the norm with Bhubaneswar Police failing to anticipate the problem.
While commuting from Khandagiri square to Rasulgarh normally takes around 25 minutes in normal traffic and less than 20 minutes during night hours, the travel time has now gone up to 40 minutes during peak hours in the evening. The delay is mainly caused by inter-city buses that stop on flyovers. Owing to the wait in traffic, cabs have also hiked their fares, said a commuter.
Buses stopping abruptly on the flyover in front of Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT) in Acharya Vihar, on National Highway-16 near Satsang Vihar, Rasulgarh, Palasuni, and other areas not only leads to traffic jams but also poses a huge risk to safety of citizens.
This apart, buses and auto-rickshaws stopping ahead of the Mo Bus stand in Rasulgarh cause massive snarls during evenings and choke the area from all sides. A commuter rued the lethargic response of traffic police to such situations in city. He said it took him more than an hour to reach Mancheswar Industrial Estate from Palasuni recently.
The commuters are apprehensive their hassles may rise during puja as major pandals in the city such as those in Baramunda, Nayapalli, Saheed Nagar, Rasulgarh, Bomikhal and others are set up on sides of main roads. During puja, illegal parking of vehicles on Janpath towards Vani Vihar might lead to massive jams near Saheed Nagar Durga Puja pandal.
While police’s cold response to the situation is not helping, to add to the messed up situation, the city does not even have a regular Traffic DCP to manage affairs ahead of Durga Puja.Meanwhile, police are planning to issue a notification to ban movement of heavy vehicles, barring those transporting essential commodities, from Pitapalli towards Bhubaneswar and from Manguli towards Cuttack from 4 pm to 2 am between Sasthi and Dasami to avoid traffic jams in the twin city.
“Around 19 traffic clearance teams have been formed under the jurisdiction of both the Traffic police stations in Bhubaneswar to immediately respond to congestions. Adequate arrangements will be made to avoid traffic jams during Durga Puja. Traffic situation will also be shared with citizens through radio stations so that they can plan their travel routes,” said a senior police officer.