The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) in association with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Commissionerate police has formed a Special Joint Squad (SJS) to remove encroachments from footpaths and cycle tracks from the busy Airport-Nandankanan road.
On Thursday, the joint squad removed 80 small shops, vendors and encroachers along the Airport-Nandankanan road from near the Unit IV and 120 Battalion areas.
BDA Vice-Chairman Krishan Kumar directed that to streamline the non-motorised transport (NMT) users i.e. people using bicycles as a means of transport and pedestrians using footpaths, the SJS will work on daily basis and make sure that these people using the green mode of transport never face any difficulties while using the roads.
The SJS with 10 members will be led by a squad leader of the rank of an enforcement inspector in the BDA. There will be representatives from the Enforcement Wings from BDA, BMC and police officials deployed to the squad, by the city police.
BDA Enforcement Member Bhabani Shankar Chayani, the overall in-charge of the SJS said “the special squad will exclusively look after the enforcement work in facilitating smooth flow of traffic in the busy roads of the state capital and would not be engaged for any other work.’’
A similar order was also issued in BMC office on Thursday designating Zonal Deputy Commissioner Subhranshu Mishra, as the nodal officer to oversee the SJS activities.
The decision to constitute the SJS was necessitated as the State Government had notified for the city, vide a resolution of the Home Department on November 29, 2016, for streamlining various matters related to traffic solutions in the capital.
It can be mentioned here that as per the Government directive the first meeting of the Traffic Management Committee was held on January 4, 2017.
lack of adequate parking space, electronic traffic signalling system and engineering defects in road development are some major issues faced by the traffic police and in order to sort out these problems regular meetings would be held by the State Government. The Traffic Management Committee in the city will be chaired by the Home Department Secretary.