Metro dream defaces the ground below in Ambazari stretch
| Date :20-May-2019 |
By Kartik Lokhande:
It’s a tale with twists and turns, as far as ‘Mazi Metro’ route is concerned, especially from Ambazari to Dharampeth Polytechnic. The elevated metro route flaunts its curves on this stretch, but ignores the chaos on the road below. And, this is not just an isolated example of chaos. All over the city, similar conditions prevail, not just because of the ongoing project work, but primarily because of the defective design hastily picked up by the Metro authorities, with least regard to the element of permanence a design must have as part of its enduring utility to the community at large. As the metro route comes from Hingna direction to Ambazari, it first crosses the road junction where roads from three directions meet -- Hingna Road, VNIT Road, and Ambazari Road.
In the middle of this road junction stands a pillar of Mazi Metro. The broad concrete square base of the pillar is rooted in the wide patch of road that is in utterly bad condition. For, once the pillar was constructed, no one bothered to smoothen the patch. Probably, those implementing the project wanted the people to see the metro route above and buy the dream instead of paying attention to bad road below. The vehicles coming from Hingna Road go either left towards Ambazari T-Point or take a right turn towards VNIT. Similarly, vehicles coming from newly constructed cement road in VNIT direction, take either left towards Hingna Road or go straight towards Ambazari T-Point.
And, the vehicles coming from Ambazari T-Point go either straight to VNIT or take right at the junction towards Hingna Road. However, in the wide portion of road junction, especially the two-wheeler riders face a great inconvenience while moving in any direction. For, the vehicles are coming from all directions at once taking turns here or there. The street-divider is in bad condition. (One may sarcastically say, if the entire road stretch is in bad shape who cares about street-divider). There is no traffic signal to regulate the flow of vehicles. Besides, the ramp of newly constructed cement road towards VNIT direction is bad. The metro pillar standing in the middle of the junction is at such a location that traffic coming from VNIT direction splits into two and this adds to existing chaos.
The junction is important as there is mixed traffic -- from heavy vehicles to buses to cars and two-wheelers and cyclists. The chaos does not stop there. The elevated metro takes a turn from inside what was once Krazy Castle, and after some distance moves out towards the embankment of Ambazari lake. The pillars along the embankment are rooted into wide cement bases, to provide strength to the structure above. The idea behind this particular stretch was to offer the commuters of Mazi Metro a ‘high view’ of the lake. But, if one looks down. The road is, again, in bad shape. As there is no street-divider, vehicles from both directions use the road width available to them.
The road surface is withered, rough, and the edges created due to erosion or patch-works or cement spilled on to road, pose problems for specially two-wheeler riders. As one moves ahead towards the point from where right turn leads to Dharampeth College. Again, one faces the problem. For, the pillars of elevated metro route congregate haphazardly at the junction. Though the pillars are not exactly in the centre, the road patch is in bad condition and the traffic signal placed slightly away from the middle of the junction is not working.
As a result, traffic is not regulated at this point. The pillars and traffic signal mar the visibility of vehicles coming from the other side. This point is also a junction as traffic from Ambazari garden, from Ambazari spill-over point, and from Dharampeth College direction criss-cross here. Daily, the roadside stall-owners say, there are umpteen occasions when the vehicles coming from these directions block each other’s way and ‘gaali-galauj’ takes place. If one takes the right turn towards Dharampeth College, one finds that the compound wall of the college has been demolished and pushed backwards to pave way for the pillars of the elevated metro route.
Also, one can see that a part of a property located on the corner from where road coming from NIT Swimming Pool leads left towards Krazy Castle, is demolished for metro pillar. There is chaos and destruction of existing properties especially on the short stretch of Mazi Metro route from Ambazari spill-over point to Dharampeth College and slightly beyond. On working days, specially in rush hours, the situation deteriorates into greater chaos on road under the metro route. The people have a reason to dream about travelling in Mazi Metro and enjoying the view of Ambazari lake in this particular stretch. But, they also have a reason to complain when they get down and ride/drive their vehicle on the road below. There are issues relating to traffic management and road repairs that are waiting to be addressed by the authorities concerned. So far, these things have not caught the attention of authorities. Will they take necessary steps now, is the question to which answer is not known yet.