Huge rush on Forest Avenue during office hours has so far gone unchecked by the authorities. The route between DPS Chowk, Risali and Boria Gate faces immense traffic pressure increasing the risk of accidents whenever there is a shift change in the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP). Traffic indiscipline coupled with wrong side driving and plying of heavy vehicles is making situation worst for the commuters who are now pressing for the need of one way driving expressing their concern of driving in such dangerous circumstances. Employees of Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) have flagged serious safety concerns on the “forest avenue” stretch, which witnesses a heavy vehicular rush every morning as staff rush to reach their departments in time for biometric facialattendance marking. Sources within BSP say that the congestion on forest avenue is particularly severe during the morning hours because most employees are under pressure to reach their respective departments by the stipulated time in order to register their presence through the facial recognition biometric system. Attendance is now mandatory at entry and exit, and failure to mark it can result in the employee being treated as absent, which has contributed to the mad dash towards the office complex. Employees report that most minor and some serious accidents on this stretch occur during this peak rush. With vehicles speeding and weaving through a crowded road, the risk of collisions has visibly increased.

 

The situation is compounded by the fact that when an accident does happen, many employees, already in a hurry to mark attendance, are reluctant or unable to stop and help the injured. Several workers have appealed to BSP management to review the strict timing of biometric attendance or at least introduce staggered entry slots for different departments to ease pressure on forest avenue. They have also urged the authorities to enhance traffic management, including deployment of traffic marshals, better signage, and speedlimit enforcement, to prevent mishaps and ensure that help is available quickly if an accident occurs. A commuter shared video of three cars being driven parallel to each other on the Forest Avenue during office hours while requesting attention of the traffic authority over the almost fatal traffic rule violation and expressed apprehension of any disastrous mishap occurring on the road very soon. Additional Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Richa Mishra stated that the Traffic Department is facing shortage of manpower and it is also not possible to deploy traffic personnel on every place. She also said that some measures still need to be taken even though Central Avenue already witnesses deployment of traffic personnel. On being asked, she said that the passing of heavy vehicles is not prohibited in the BSP area.