Chandigarh, January 15: The “ill-planned” decision of the UT traffic police to introduce two-hour traffic diversions on various roads, including Madhya Marg, spelt chaos today, leaving commuters confused, harassed and infuriated.
The aim behind the move was to ease traffic snarls in the city. However, the situation turned even worse. Traffic jams on roads were more as compared to other days.
Although commuters got a free way from the Housing Board light point, the traffic moved at a snail’s pace up to the Transport light point. The commuters still had to wait at the Transport light point for several minutes, defeating the purpose of the initiative.
Vehicles coming towards the Transport light point from the Sector 28 side in the morning further added to the chaos as the commuters were turned towards the grain market chowk, that was already clogged. Serpentine queues were witnessed between the Transport light point up to the Sector 18/19/7/8 roundabout on Madhya Marg. The grain market chowk, Sector 26, and the Sector 27/19/8/7 roundabout were among the worst affected intersections.
Bipin, a resident of Modern Housing Complex (MHC), Mani Majra, said he moved towards the Transport light point from Sector 28. However, the traffic at the Transport light point was diverted towards the grain market chowk and it took almost 20 minutes to cross the grain market chowk. He was then stuck at the next Sector 27/19/8/7 roundabout. “It took me around 50 minutes to reach home from Sector 28,” he added.
Even the presence of cops at all intersections failed to provide any respite to commuters stuck in over a kilometre-long jam. Traffic jams were also witnessed at the St Kabir school light point and the Shastri Nagar light point as the traffic moving towards the Housing Board light point was diverted towards these two intersections. The situation turned normal after the diversions were lifted by the police at 10.45 am, almost 15 minutes before the two-hour time.
“The move to provide a green corridor to vehicles entering the city backfired as the traffic coming towards Chandigarh was the worst affected while it should have been the other way round,” said Inderpreet Singh, who was stuck in a traffic jam at the grain market chowk.
The situation was no different during the evening hours between 5 pm and 7 pm.
The traffic moving towards Panchkula from Madhya Marg moved slowly, which led to long queues from the grain market chowk towards the Housing Board light point. The traffic coming towards the Transport light point from the Sector 28 side was also affected.
The traffic coming from the Housing Board light point towards Chandigarh was diverted towards the Industrial Area, Phase I, from the Railway light point from where the commuters reached opposite the Sector 28 petrol pump and moved towards Tribune Chowk.
118 cops manned stretch
As many as 118 police personnel were deployed on the stretch to manage the traffic. However, their presence could not provide the much-needed relief to the commuters, who were left bewildered.
SUV caught on cycle track
An SUV bearing a red beacon with a Punjab Police escort was stuck in a traffic jam at the grain market chowk. The driver tried to cross through a cycle track. However, the police made the SUV driver reverse it though a challan should have been issued to the VIP.
Chandigarh traffic Police decide to suspend initiative
In the evening, the UT traffic police issued a statement saying that a feedback was collected from the public and traffic cops deputed on the stretch and they were analysing the problems faced by the public and the suggestions given by it. From Wednesday, the traffic movement will remain normal as per the earlier regulations.
Will plan changes TO STREAMLINE iT: SSP
It was the first day of the initiative, that too on a trial basis. We will plan some changes to streamline it. — Shashank Anand, SSP (traffic)
