Noida: Dug up service road causes congestion at City Centre metro station

Rain continues to cause waterlogging, while potholes have left the service road useless and the City Centre Metro Station auto stand unreachable.

When an autorickshaw stand was constructed on the service lane of the Noida City Metro station last April, everyone hoped that congestion in front of the station would become history. A year later, the waterlogging and potholes on the road has rendered the stand useless.

Rain continues to cause waterlogging, while potholes have left the service road useless and the City Centre Metro Station auto stand unreachable. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

After the parking stand was built, all vehicles were told to park on the extreme left of the lane, along the boundary wall of the metro parking. It was done to reduce the mess caused by haphazardly parked autorickshaws and use the remaining portion of the service road for smooth flow of traffic between Sector 37 and Sector 71 via City Centre.

Acting on residents’ complaints, the traffic police requested the Noida authority to put up auto stand signboards and also to level the low-lying area to stop waterlogging and fill all potholes.

But none of these things were done and rain continues to cause waterlogging while potholes have left the service road useless and the auto stand unreachable.

“I will look into why waterlogging happens and why the road has been dug up. Auto stand should look good and it should be maintained,” said Sandeep Chandra, in charge traffic cell, Noida authority.

A traffic constable deployed near the metro station said, “We cannot force drivers to stand in the water with their autorickshaws. They say no passenger would be able to reach them after navigating through the sludge and their business would suffer.”

“Now autos coming from Sector 37 also avoid the service road take the main carriageway causing congestion,” the constable said.

According to the traffic official, about 3,000 autos ply to and fro via City Centre daily, posing a huge challenge for the traffic police to regulate them.

“I wish the Noida authority improves the condition of auto stands across the city. There are 30 or more such stands in Noida and none of them is in a good shape,” Nisha Kumari, a commuter, said.