Massive construction activities paralyse city’s traffic movement

Ludhiana: Multiple construction activities on and around roads have compounded the woes of commuters in Ludhiana that already grapples with a perpetual traffic gridlock.
Tailgating vehicles, traffic snarls and drivers cutting the queues are the order of the day at major junctions of the city, including Bharat Nagar Chowk, and the stretch between the railway station and Clock Tower.

One of the busiest intersections — Bharat Nagar Chowk — sees convergence of traffic coming from the bus stand, Ferozepur Road, Mall Road and Jagraon Bridge, but due to various ongoing construction projects, commuters face major inconvenience throughout the day.
Naresh, who works at an ice cream parlour close to the chowk, said, “It has been at least two years since we have been in the middle of traffic jams, primarily due to the construction of a bridge. Our customer footfall has reduced drastically as there is no space to park vehicles.”
Voicing a similar concern, Raminderpal Singh, owner of a furniture shop near the bus stand, said, “The traffic situation because of the bridge construction has inflicted heavy financial losses on our business in the last two years. It has also made it impossible for a customer to scan our shops even for a minute as the moment he slows down, a long queue of vehicles forms behind him. We have now kept a valet to park our customers’ cars, but it has added to our expense.”
He added, “To avoid jams, people often take the wrong route, which results in frequent brawls and incidents of road rage. I hope this project completes soon.”
On the other side of the city too, people are equally flustered.
It takes at least 50 minutes during peak hours to cover the 2km stretch up to Clock Tower from the railway station, where construction of new entry and exit points is underway.
Surinder Singh, an auto-rickshaw driver stuck in a jam, said, “It has been around an hour since I am waiting to reach Clock Tower. The traffic is moving at a snail’s pace.”
A traffic police official, Ravinder Singh, said, “The development work at the railway station has added to the suffering of commuters, but we are trying our best to streamline the vehicles’ movement.”
Bikramjeet Singh, who travels to his work from Subhani building, said he leaves home at least 30 minutes early for his workplace, but still gets late. “There is a constant drone of vehicles and dust suspended in the air that never settles,” he added.
Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Varinder Singh Brar said, “We had recently met officials of the National Highways Authority of India and urged them to fix traffic spots most prone to jams. We have also put in a request to procure surveillance cameras to get real-time information on traffic movement in order to improvise our response. We have made special arrangements for the smooth passage of Jagannath Yatra to be held on June 20. We will later reconvene our meeting with the highways authority to chalk out concrete solutions to the traffic problem.”