After Chief Minister Raghubar Das’ announcement to make ‘No Entry Zone’ at the MG Marg from 5 pm to 10 pm daily, which will eventually stop the vehicular movement on the busy road, the Government machinery has started brainstorming on the idea to make it convenient for city residents. The implementation of the plan must be done by November 15.
A stakeholders’ meeting has been proposed on October 30 to brainstorm on different aspects for smooth vehicular movement here after the recent decision.
“A meeting with Department of Urban Development Secretary Arun Singh, senior officials of Traffic Police and the Municipal Corporation has been fixed on October 30. Within November first week, a blueprint will be ready with the major changes. Also, the survey work is in progress. We are identifying some parking spots at a minimum distance, so that public does not face any hurdle in moving around,” said SP (Traffic) Sanjay Ranjan Singh.
The SP (Traffic) assured that emergency services will function in a regular way even after this alteration.
Singh also said suggestions will be invited from different organisations and accordingly the final draft will be prepared looking at the convenience of the public.
However, Singh hinted that unused paid parking space like parking lots at Collectorate, Zila School ground etc. could be utilised as the parking spots once the plan gets green signal.
Notably, during the hearing of a Public Interest litigation (PIl) on April 9, 2016 the Jharkhand High Court had ordered the authorities to shift the vendors along the routes of MG Road to eliminate traffic snarl.
After the maiden ‘Momentum Jharkhand’ meet, the HC had ordered the State Government to maintain the existing arrangements.
The decision is getting mixed response from the public as the announcement has been made in haste and also without adopting any alternative plan.
Even, the earlier attempts of the traffic police including of the Municipal Corporation have proved futile in streamlining the traffic.
“The chamber slams the decision of the CM. In any case, the business class would not let this happen here. There are several problems co-related with it ranging from creating hindrances during the peak business hours (5 PM to 7:30 PM on daily basis) to forcefully restricting the movement of the city residents at the busiest market place,” said, FJCCI, vice-president, Soni Mehta after conducting a meeting with business organization heads on Saturday.
By far, from organizing checking drives at a regular interval for removing encroachments to shifting the vendors at six designated sites to ensure smooth vehicular movement, none of the plans have been successful yet.
Recently, the traffic police personnel barricaded the pathways from Albert Ekka Chowk to Sujata Chowk restricting vendors’ activities but this major arrangement too failed miserably.
Similarly, other plans like diverting traffic in the past too did not endured even for a week.