The much-hyped traffic regulation enforced at the behest of the AIG (traffic, headquarter) Kewal Khurana fell flat on the first day of its execution on Monday as an acute traffic congestion greeted the commuters on EC Road.
Notably, u-turn has been prohibited on the one and half km stretch of E C Road from Survey Chowk to Aaragarh during the time the schools are closed. The commuters sounded sceptic of the efficacy of the newly enforced traffic regulation while many of them say that it would further compound their daily ordeal on the roads.
Mention worthy, the traffic department focused on EC Road while firming up the new traffic plan in view of the fact that it suffers jams daily with several esteemed schools being located on it.
True, traffic personnel were deployed in adequate number at the important EC Road crossings, but it failed to help things as the commuters faced problem while conforming to the newly enforced u- turn prohibition.
“The congestion seems to have been aggravated further by the new regulation. Police are stopping us from taking the u-turns. This triggered a more serious congestion than we were habituated to,” said a commuter Surendra Singh Negi.
Another of the miffed commuters Sonika said that they were asked to go as far back as Survey Chowk or Aaragarh to take the u-turn. “Some of them refused to abide by the rule, plunging things thus into a severer chaos,” she said.
Ganesh Uniyal, a commuter, echoed the same, saying that the move might be well-intentioned, but it was impractical.
While admitting the problems faced by the commuters, SP Traffic DS Gunjyal said that the same regulation would continue despite it. “Some of the commuters were unaware of the order. Things might improve in the coming days,” he said. He, however, added that he had communicated the traffic situation on EC road to his seniors.