Road safety has always remained a cause of worry for the residents of the capital city here. Despite deployment of a strong traffic regime, a foolproof security is missing. The ongoing road construction and flyover works at major junctions have added to the woes.
“When I set out for work outside home, I hardly feel confident of not facing a mishap on way, given the rush on the roads and new diversions created every now and then for facilitation of the road and flyover works. Besides, the police have failed to rein in rash and negligent driving, while hit-and-run cases are being reported almost regularly,” said Santosh Nayak, a resident of Nayapalli.
The capital city has grown menacing in view of the growing number of accidents on roads in past few years. Ever since the construction works have started, the mishaps have grown all the more frequent. Unless one drives on a route regularly, he is sure to be discomforted to find roads having been diverted and new curves created. At times, even for the most conservative drivers, it causes accident, let alone the rash and drunken drivers, who always end up in creating trouble for them as well as for others.
Helmet wearing and one pillion rider rule is the most welcome move undertaken by the police but the authorities have yet to put a tab on speed limits at different areas. The residents of the city are not strangers to two wheeler riders wheezing away at break-neck speed as if they were creating a stunt.
The mischief makers are always found to be youths, who are fond of show-off and forgetful of the fact that their undisciplined driving often creates awkward situation for fellow drivers and passers-by. The police must bring such drivers under control and come up with a speed limit regimen. Bhubaneswar has witnessed a steep rise in population and vehicles in last few decades.
Obviously, the old traffic arrangement and road and transport infrastructure have utterly failed to cope with the changing scenario, necessitating a complete overhaul. The road expansion, including two lanning or four lanning or six lanning wherever applicable, and bridges at the busiest areas are therefore a step in right direction.
But before the projects are finished, the traffic management needs to be done most carefully. “The interim period is most crucial and needs to be dealt with utmost care and caution. For example, the flyovers and road works now undertaken between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar on NH 5 have squeezed the existing road at several places, while at a few places the road has been diverted with new curves. Similar is also the case with the road between Bhubaneswar and Puri. In these areas, there should be more deployment of traffic personnel. Besides, the police have to ensure that a speed limit is put in place to avoid accidents,” opined Ram Chandra Tiwari, a resident of Bomikhal area, adding that not long ago, a drunken and rash truck driver bringing his vehicle from Mancheswar to Rasulgarh had created accidents at several spots and killed and injured nearly half a dozen people.
The squeezing of parking areas also poses a problem in many posh areas. Be it unit II market building area or Bapujinagar or Rajmahal or Old Town, one has always to struggle for a space to park a two wheeler or a car.
The situation turns quite unbearable during the evening hours when the markets bustle with activities with huge turnout of customers. Similarly, in most areas, the BMC has not been careful enough to provide road light during evening hours. The lights in most city thoroughfares, including the busy NH5, are switched off.
This creates driving on the roads most dangerous. Even several mishaps have taken place due to potholes on the roads or new diversions which miss the notice of the drivers due to lack of vision.
“Crimes have increased on roads and market areas due to loopholes in the traffic arrangement. The bike borne looters are taking advantage of absence of any speed limit rule. Besides, lack of timely scrutiny of number plate and documents of the bikers also provide them a chance to move scot free,” asserted BB Jena, an employee of a private firm in the city.