Haphazardly parked buses choking roads
LUCKNOW: Traffic on the 5km-long Charbagh-Alambagh stretch is gasping for breath, with haphazardly parked roadways buses forcing commuters to spend hours stuck in jams. Around 10 lakh people residing in this area as well as Singar Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Tehri Pulia, Adarsh Nagar, Patel Nagar , Grain Depot and CPH colony have to daily bear the brunt of this colossal traffic mismanagement.
“Buses parked in front of our colony pose a big threat of accidents. Because of these, the roads hardly have any space for vehicular movement,” said Dheeraj Saxena, president of Patel Nagar, Alambagh residents’ welfare association.
Vivek Tewari, another member of the association, said, “We have informed the roadways officials and the police about this problem, but they have not taken the matter seriously.”
When contacted, roadways officials said the buses seen parked on roads had been taken on contact. AK Singh, regional manager, UP roadways, said, “These have been hired by the roadways. The drivers drive them away after dropping passengers at the Charbagh bus station. During the night, drivers may park the buses on the roadside, but ideally they should be parked inside bus terminals.”
He also said that the UP roadways had ensured sufficient parking space for its buses at the Vrindvan Colony.
“That’s where these buses should be parked, but the drivers don’t do that,” he said.
Singh added that the problem would be resolved after the Alamabagh bus terminal became operational this month.
“There we have the capacity of parking over a hundred buses at any given time. Besides, we will also plan to penalise buses that are parked outside terminals, obstructing traffic movement,” he said.
“Once Alambagh bus station is functional, 60% of buses will be parked there, while 40% will be parked in Charbagh. So, that will automatically reduce the number of buses parked on roads,” he said.
Meanwhile, locals blamed police apathy for the sorry state of affairs. “Bus drivers grease the palms of police personnel for parking vehicles on roads. That’s why the cops choose to remain silent on the issue despite the immense problems being faced by people,” said a resident of the area.
Countering the charge, station house officer Alambagh Arun Kumar Mishra said, “Yes, a number of buses are parked (on roads), but we have fined many drivers and also informed roadways officials about the problem. However, they don’t cooperate with the police in undertaking a joint drive to stop this haphazard parking on roads.”