For how long has one to wait for tomorrow’s gain?
| Date :31-May-2019 |
The traffic mess at HB Town square is a regular feature as commuters coming from all directions get confused and add to the chaos. (Pic by Satish Raut)
By Vikas Vaidya:
If one wants to experience biggest traffic chaos, wants to undergo lot of sufferings while moving on the road, wants to see how sweating traffic cops feel helpless, wants to notice people are nudging each other, wants to witness accidents are taking place then one must visit the stretch from Ring Road chowk to Pardi. Road from Swaminarayan Mandir and road from Wardhman Nagar join at Ring Road chowk and the traffic moves towards HB Town square passing the railway crossing.
The commuters get confused when they come from Wardhman Nagar as they are welcomed by the curved road that joins the Ring Road square. The high barricades that Metro has erected obstruct the vision of driver and he or she cannot see the vehicles coming from Pardi or those joining from Swaminarayan Mandir road. This small junction has become an accident spot. Because of faulty management, people find it convenient to enter the road from anywhere without thinking the right or wrong way.
Imagine, if railway crossing gets closed because of train’s arrival, what would happen to the traffic. In a day the railway crossing gate gets closed at least for 8 times everytime disrupting the traffic. Though it is a narrow gauge railway line the safety of the vehicles need to be taken. But several times people get fed up with the closing of the gate, get down from their vehicle open it and move ahead. This adds to the traffic chaos. Somehow one crosses the railway gate and moves towards HB Town square, one has to suffer that can be attributed to several things.
Condition of roads is such shabby that the vehicle owner suffers. His or her sufferings do not stop there. One has to move from a small path as the already narrow road has become thinner. Work of other road is in progress and barricades covering the construction work is visible. This narrow road is carrying the loads of heavy trucks, Government and private buses and other vehicles as it is the only road joining Bhandara through Pardi. This road turns through a narrow lane and reaches HB Town square. This square nowadays has become a centre of traffic mess, chaos, confusion, irritation whatever name one gives, one would find these terms there.
This square is an intersection of the bridge being constructed by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Nagpur Metro. The bridge being developed by NHAI goes to all four directions -- Old Bhandara road, Ring road chowk, Kalamna and Pardi or Bhandara road. As per the plan, there will be a similar intersection of NHAI roads just above the HB Town chowk. This is being done to ease the traffic below and unburden the same. The cause is good but planning is very bad which is evident. Saying ‘Today’s pain is tomorrow’s gain’ is good as a quote but every commuter of this particular stretch everytime asks, shouts, irritates, cries why the pain now also and for how long? People go and come but the greatest sufferer of this stretch is traffic cops who have to shout, have to manage the traffic, have to clear the mess standing just in the middle of the road in scorching heat. Swords of Damocles hanging over their heads as it happened in the past where the drivers fed up by traffic chaos accelerated their vehicles hitting the cops.
Barricades are put in the middle of the square in such a way that the driver can not see the other side. This square wore a look of hub of barricades as one would find barricades at all corners. Except the Pardi or Bhandara road, every other road that joins the HB Town square is one way. This leads to a lot of trouble for the people as once traffic signal turns green, heavy traffic moves towards the one-way where it finds another queue of vehicles awaiting their signal to turn green. Vehicles have to jostle to move ahead. These vehicles do not get breathing space even after they reach the other side passing through the intersection as they have to struggle for long to get wider path. Many times because of so much confusion trucks hit the divider and police have to run to clear the traffic.
One traffic cop told this Correspondent following the rule sometimes put the drivers in trouble. For example, if heavy vehicles stop before the stopline, the two-wheelers stand in front of them. When signal turns green, the two-wheelers in large numbers move ahead making the heavy vehicles difficult to reach square. This queue of vehicles never end as hardly one or two heavy vehicles get chance to cross the square. Their problems get multiplied when railway crossing gate gets closed. With gate closed the traffic gets locked. People then don’t care for the signal and keep moving ahead.
“Whenever the railway crossing gate is closed and traffic gets accumulated, things become difficult for us. When the gate is opened, we give priority to the traffic crossing the railway crossing to reduce the chaos. People’s understanding and prudence of authorities should work together,” said the sweating cop on condition of anonymity. These cops have to keep shouting on mike guiding vehicles to move. Buses take a turn towards Pardi and stop in the middle of the road to drop or pick up the passengers is a usual picture on the stretch. This traffic keeps going till the end of Pardi with snail’s pace, sweating, gasping, but nobody cares.