kavita

BE IT a secluded area, or the posh and important localities of the state capital, it’s the city buses, maxi-cabs and three-wheelers that rule the roads.

Bus stops are of little significance. It depends completely on the passenger’s convenience where to stop the vehicle.

You can stop a bus or a three-wheeler anywhere — be it the middle of the road or a busy, congested crossing, or midway on a bridge — just by waving your hand.

Newsline team takes stock of the situation at some of the busiest spots.

Badshah Nagar crossing
One of the busiest intersections. Roads leading from Mahanagar and Badshah Nagar Railway Station meet here. The Nishatganj flyover also starts from here. Surprisingly, on both sides of the crossing — on Faizabad road and just where the flyover begins — bus-stops are merely 20 m away, against the road engineering norms that clearly state a bus-stop should be placed 100 m away from the crossing. And all kinds of passenger vehicles can be found lined up in and around the stops. Moreover, the shelters are occupied by paan shops and water vendors, leaving no place for passengers. A traffic constable posted there said the bus and three-wheeler drivers don’t even hesitate to threaten them if they try to chase them away.


Nishatganj crossing
Just at the other end of the Nishatganj flyover, which ends in front of the Nishatganj police station, lies the New Hyderabad crossing. Roads from New Hyderabad and the areas below the flyover also meet at the other end of the flyover. Try crossing this junction at the speed you crossed the flyover, and you may meet with an accident. Here also, buses and three-wheelers are found lined up. The roads coming from under the flyover are choked by three-wheelers waiting for passengers. Though a bus-stop is located 50 m ahead, none of them bother to go till there. “When we get passengers here itself, why should we go to the stop,” said a bus driver, adding that they do have to pay hafta to the police for stopping “wherever they want”.


Hazratganj crossing
City’s most important and vital crossing with important approach roads also faces such chaos at peak hours. There is police presence round the clock, but cops also feel helpless at times. “How can we only blame the bus and three-wheeler drivers? The public also does not want to walk a few more steps and reach the bus-stop,” said a traffic sub-inspector. The only occasion when everything is neat and clean is during a VIP movement, he added.


Nishatganj and IT College crossing
Blame it on the three-wheelers for the mess here. They block every possible place when the two colleges in the area get over. Both the crossings are located near Karaamat College and IT College. And girls prefer three-wheelers to bus. Three-wheelers are lined up on the IT flyover also. Blow out horn, yell, shout or even hit the them, but they will move only when the seats are full.


To check the menace, two teams headed by the then CO (Traffic), R.N. Singh, and traffic inspector Karamvir Singh were formed about two months ago. They were supposed to be on the move and challan all such vehicles stopping at will and obstructing traffic. Things improved for some time but were back to square one after Singh was given the additional charge of CO (Gomtinagar).


Senior traffic police officials said a strategy is being worked out to bring things under control.


SP (Traffic) Onkar Singh said a letter has been sent by the IG (Traffic) a couple of days ago to the Transport department to check the menace and to adopt methods to control the buses.


“The Transport Commissioner has also been requested to interfere and initiate action against unruly drivers. As far as the three-wheelers are concerned, we are trying our level best to control them by challaning them every now and them,” said Singh.