Factors like infrastructural constructions, increased number of vehicles and lack of driving sense among the vehicle users continue to cause traffic congestion in Haridwar city. locals complain that traffic jams have become a routine travail especially during rush hour with bumper to bumper traffic traffic seen on the road and moving at a snail’s pace at locations like Ranipur Mod - one of the prominent localities in the city. According to a traffic cop manning the traffic regulation here, the traffic jams are caused due to the increasing number of vehicles and narrow roads along with the railway related construction work. He also pointed out that the ongoing construction works on the Haridwar- Dehradun highway further hinders the smooth flow of traffic out of Haridwar city.
“People do not have proper driving sense .They park their vehicles anywhere and everywhere and when we ask them to follow the rules, they get angry and engage in verbal spats,” said a traffic policewoman. The men and women in uniform state that the traffic police do their duty diligently, taking up their designated places as rush hour approaches to tackle the traffic jams that have turned into a nuisance for both the citizens and the traffic police.
“Traffic jams are a major nuisance that we have to deal with daily, especially on the highway. Also, the the roads connecting Rishikul to Devpura Chowk in the city have been dug up for some work by the local authorities which causes major inconvenience for us,” said a citizen. “Haridwar is also a pilgrimage centre and a tourist place due to which there is considerable incoming traffic. But the government has begun all the construction works in the ongoing peak season that causes major traffic snarls, which are a problem for both the tourists as well as the local residents,” opined another local resident. The locals state that if the authorities had not started different construction works at the same time, the regulation of traffic would have been less affected. On top of this, the departments concerned do not seem to be succeeding at expediting such works, add the locals.