Schools, colleges flunk traffic test in Amritsar

The daily logjams at many key locations of the city are observed to be because of traffic mismanagement near educational institutes, including leading schools and colleges. Police negligence as well has contributed to the situation that keeps the commuters and tourists stuck on the roads for hours every day.

The daily logjams at many key locations of the city are observed to be because of traffic mismanagement near educational institutes, including leading schools and colleges.

Police negligence as well has contributed to the situation that keeps the commuters and tourists stuck on the roads for hours every day. Nobody takes the blame, and everybody prefers to pass the buck. School authorities say the traffic police are lax, while the cops want educational institutes to do soul searching.

Traffic is thickest on the stretch between the railway stations and Guru Nanak Dev University; besides the Mall Road, Lawrence Road, and Police Lines, because many schools and colleges are located around there. “School authorities are to blame, for they allow vans and private vehicles to be parked on roads and hire illegal transport. Their principals don’t take responsibility and the policemen on duty are fiddling with their mobile phones most often during logjams,” said said district transport officer Lovejeet Kalsi.

Every two months, nearly 9,500 vehicles were added to the city traffic, even when Amritsar and its narrow roads couldn’t accommodate more, she said. “If the police are firm, the policy to limit the number of vehicles can be successful,” she added.

“We are not to be blamed,” said GNDU dean of student welfare AS Sidhu. “Managing traffic is the police job. There are neither traffic lights on the outer road, nor any policemen for surveillance. Our guards do try to discipline auto-rickshaw drivers but we do not have the authority to penalise them. We regulate the entire traffic on our campus." usmeet.kaur@hindustantimes.com