The stretch outside St Joseph’s Convent School, opposite Kasturchand Park, has become a daily traffic nightmare, with unchecked wrong-side driving and fast moving traffic posing a serious threat to hundreds of students and their parents during school hours. Located on the busy road connecting LIC Chowk and the T-point near Kingsway Hospital, the school witnesses heavy traffic throughout the day. Residents and parents say the flyover has aggravated the situation, as its supporting pillars have narrowed the already limited carriageway outside the campus, creating a bottleneck during peak hours.

 

The problem intensifies when school buses, vans, private vehicles and parents on two-wheelers arrive simultaneously for the morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up. The most alarming issue is the growing tendency of motorists to drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid the traffic build-up at the Kingsway T-point. Two-wheelers, cars and auto-rickshaws frequently enter the opposite carriageway directly in front of the school gates, where children are crossing the road to board vehicles parked on the opposite side. The resulting confusion leaves little room for error and has heightened fears of a serious accident. “Every day I worry while coming to pick up my daughter. Vehicles suddenly appear from the wrong side, and with so many children crossing the road, it is frightening. We cannot take our eyes off the traffic even for a moment.

 

The authorities should act before a serious accident happens,” said Adv Ayesha Rizwy, a working mother whose daughter studies in the 7th std of the school. Parents say mothers waiting on scooters with their children are particularly vulnerable, often finding themselves trapped between fast-moving traffic on one side and vehicles travelling against the flow on the other. Residents believe the traffic woes have also exposed shortcomings in the planning of the flyover approach and have called for a comprehensive traffic management plan. Citizens have urged the Traffic Police to deploy personnel during school hours, strictly curb wrong-side driving, install lane separators and speed-calming measures, and regulate pick-up and drop-off traffic to ensure the safety of hundreds of children using the route every day. They stress that preventive action is needed before a near miss turns into a tragedy.