Chaos, confusion on Umred Road
| Date :09-Feb-2020 |
By Dheeraj Fartode :
TRAFFIC signals installed without proper study, encroached footpaths or no footpaths, fly-over without road divider and faulty road engineering at squares -- this is how one can summarise road and traffic condition on Umred Road from Reshimbagh Square to Dighori Square. Moreover, the road users, by indulging in overspeeding and reckless driving, are worsening the situation in the area. One can notice the problems created by governing authorities and gross violation of traffic rules by every third person on the road. All along the road, a question haunts the mind - What are the law enforcement agencies doing?
Dighori square situated on the Ring road is notorious for road fatalities due to massive movement of heavy vehicles. The road is quite wide in size but tarring work of just 50 per cent of its size has been done making half the portion of the road unusable for vehicular traffic. The square has become a den of illegal passenger transportation where passenger vehicles are parked near the square leading to traffic congestion. The traffic signal at Shitala Mata Mandir square was installed to resolve traffic chaos at the square. However, the authorities might have forgot to study the road engineering.
The signal is leading to frequent small accidents at the square due traffic coming from Hasanbagh area. Vehicles coming from Bhande Plot square cannot see vehicles moving from Hasanbagh area as the temple is situated in the middle of both roads. As a result, vehicles from both sides get involved in accident. The Sakkardara square is one of the important squares of city thronged by hundreds of footpath vendors and shops. However, these shops have no parking area due to which the customers always park their vehicles on the road affecting vehicular movement and leading to traffic-jams.
The Sakkardara fly-over was constructed around 15 years ago as a solution to the area’s traffic issues. Many accidents were reported in the past on the bridge. In many such accidents, the police investigation find overtaking as the main reason behind the accidents. A simple solution of erecting road-divider on the fly-over can reduce such accidents. However, no one knows when the authorities will wake up to the reality. Footpaths have literally vanished from the road stretch or encroached upon by the shopkeepers posing danger to pedestrians. Here, people are forced to cross the busy road through moving traffic, as footpaths are not useable and there are no zebra crossings at many roads. The residents live and the vehicles ply with a hope that the authorities would understand the importance footpaths soon.