Memes on poor urban planning flood social media

Bhubaneswar: As the city’s 75th foundation day celebrations ended on Saturday, people took to social media to take a dig at the authorities for goofing up on urban planning while changing the city’s infrastructure under smart city development projects.
People came up with funny memes to make the administration understand what went wrong with the city planning and how it has impacted the people. One such meme on Master Canteen Square and Khandagiri Square is doing the rounds on various online platforms.
In the meme, the character representing Master Canteen Square is conversing with the character representing Khandagiri Square and saying, “Brother there was a time, when I was also a traffic-free junction in the city”.
“Khandagiri was one of the worst junctions in terms of traffic volume few years back, but the situation has improved due to the construction of a flyover and service lanes, but the opposite has happened with Master Canteen Square,” said Priyabrata Jena, a resident of Unit III.
Master Canteen Square, the gateway to the railway station, used to have a roundabout. The waiting time for the traffic at the sqaure was almost nil but the replacement of the same with a full-fledged junction last year has made things worse for the people.
“It was one of the worst decisions of the Smart City planners. The roundabout was the best option for Master Canteen Square. There was neither any waiting time for the traffic nor road risk. Now we almost have to wait for 15 to 30 minutes to cross the junction,” said Mahamaya Tripathy, a commuter.
Similarly, the replacement of the roundabout at Rajmahal Square just a few metres away from Master Canteen Square has also turned out to be a nightmare. Though there is lesser wait time due to the presence of a flyover, road safety is a concern here.
“Crossing Raj Mahal Square is a big risk. It is a junction without any traffic lights or pedestrian signals. We are absolutely on our own. Traffic police are also of no help here. The erstwhile design was good instead of the present system,” said Harihar Kumar, a vendor at Bapuji Nagar.