Logjams all over, the city’s traffic has become too chaotic for even the police to find a way. The more they concentrate on fines, the more they take their eyes off traffic management.
Even as traffic on almost every prominent city roads is sluggish, the police seem in no hurry to clear the gridlocks. On the Bhandari Bridge especially, the day starts bad and becomes worse by the afternoon when it takes irritatingly long to cross the span. It matters least to undisciplined drivers that Amritsar is a tourist destination, or what impression the visitors might carry.
When the day is over at schools and colleges, a gush of vehicles comes out of floodgates and drowns road safety.
The police have nearly 400 personnel in the local traffic unit but not enough. Bhandari Bridge, bus stand, Link Road, Ram Bagh, Novelty Chowk, Mall Road, Queens Road, Cooper Road, Putlighar are a traffic cop’s worst nightmares. The work on Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) has complicated matters for the force that remains short of plan.
Struggling to find a solution to logjams, the traffic police have so much to show when it comes to collecting fine. They have good figures in that column but the purpose of their being out is defeated. The fine line between managing and holding up traffic is crossed.
{{/usCountry}}Struggling to find a solution to logjams, the traffic police have so much to show when it comes to collecting fine. They have good figures in that column but the purpose of their being out is defeated. The fine line between managing and holding up traffic is crossed.
{{/usCountry}}People know how heavy the burden is on traffic police, yet they make no effort to make it lighter. Yes, more people have started wearing helmet and fastening the seatbelt, but still one sees outdated school buses on road and open violation of the other rules. aseem.bassi@hindustantimes.com