Auto-rickshaw drivers are taken to be the root cause of traffic jams in the city, but the ones from Kishori Yadav Chowk have emerged as an exception to this notion.
For the past seven days, auto-rickshaw drivers, auto-rickshaw parking agents and shopkeepers operating near the roundabout have taken it upon themselves to ensure that traffic keeps moving around this crucial junction without any hindrance from public transport.
“Commuters often complain of auto-rickshaws being parked right on the streets, clogging traffic in the city. Similar practices and narrow streets, collectively, used to result in traffic jams here at Kishori Yadav Chowk. But now, we are asking auto-rickshaw drivers not to park on streets while picking or dropping off fares to prevent any traffic bottlenecks,” said Jharkhand Diesel Auto Chalak Mahasangh General Secretary Guddu Shrivastava.
Even the parking agents, who usually seem concerned only with exacting parking toll from auto drivers, are also lending a hand in making the traffic circle free from traffic logjams.
“We are making sure that auto-rickshaws park inside the assigned parking lot and not on the streets. We might have been inconsiderate of this in the past but we are changing our working methods swiftly. Soon, motorists will have no reason to complain at Kishori Yadav Chowk,” said Bhushan Yadav, an authorised parking agent at New Market auto-rickshaw stand near Kishori Yadav Chowk.
“If they understand their traffic responsibilities and act accordingly, it will be a great help to us in regulating and controlling the traffic flow in the city. Such initiative means a lot for Kishori Yadav Chowk as it is used by VIPs round the clock,” said Traffic DSP Poonam lakra.
But auto-rickshaws are not the only mode of public transport that frequent the roundabout, nor are they the only reason behind traffic jams, state the auto-rickshaw drivers.
“Buses which travel to outskirts of Ranchi pick their passengers from here. They have permission to wait here for five minutes only but they park here for something like half an hour, waiting for passengers. Half of the narrow streets circling the Chowk are usually hogged by these buses,” stated Shrivastava.
“The buses are not supposed to park there, they should only slow down enough for passengers to get on. Soon, we will be determining measures to limit their stoppage near the Chowk. This proposal will be deliberated over in detail during the next meeting of District Traffic Coordination Committee,” stated DTO Nagendra Paswan.
He further added, “We will also be proposing that a new auto stand is made nearby so that Kishori Yadav Chowk is relieved of some of the bulk of traffic. lastly, we will be telling the public vehicle drivers to park their vehicles within the white lines on roadsides, and violation of this norm will result in strict action against the wrongdoers.”