Odisha's Sambalpur battles traffic blues

SAMBALPUR:  Delay in construction of the longest flyover in Sambalpur has spawned a host of traffic woes. With the number of vehicles hitting the road skyrocketing every year, the city is now battling massive traffic congestion with lack of adequate roads worsening the situation. The flyover from Dhutrapada to Nelson Mandela Chowk has been under construction since two years and seems nowhere close to completion.

At Golebazaar, one of the busiest market places in the city, the erection of pillars for flyover construction has restricted pedestrian movement and disrupted daily business of vendors. However, the incomplete flyover is not the singular cause for the harrowing traffic scenario. Indisciplined driving and unruly parking parking habits of commuters have added to the conundrum.

Efforts of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) to clear encroachments along the busy Ainthapali-Budharaja road have proved futile. Though eviction drives have been carried out multiple times, the administration has failed to evict vendors, who obstruct smooth vehicular movement. The market place spread over 4500 sq mt in Shanti Nagar, which was developed for accommodating these vendors, has also turned into a dead asset. 

Ainthapali Chowk, one of the most important locations in Sambalpur marking the entry into the city and connecting the highway to the town, is facing one of the worst traffic scenarios. Frequent movement of heavy vehicles has turned the road into an accident-prone spot. With city planning resembling that of an old city, better infrastructure framework with improved road connectivity has become the need of the hour.
Enforcement Officer of SMC, Subhankar Mohanty said these issues cannot be handled single-handedly and require coordinated efforts of police, municipality and PWD.