Police resort to flexi-timing to keep puja traffic moving

Kolkata: Police will keep its puja-related traffic restrictions—shutting down of roads, one-ways and diversions —flexible, rather than making them time-bound, to ensure as much convenience as possible. Only the truck timings will not change.
A review of the traffic situation over the past 48 hours showed three major stretches as “concern areas” so far.“The first one is the place around Santosh Mitra Square, stretching up to Colootola Street and MG Road-CR Avenue crossing. The second is the entire area between Triangular Park and New Alipore, the stretch between Chetla and New Alipore being the worst. The third is the stretch between Ultadanga and Hatibagan,” said a traffic officer. Searching for a solution, police said, they found taking decisions based on the ground situation and being flexible were the most practical measures. “If we kept Colootola open, like on normal days, we found vehicles going towards Sealdah getting an extra road for movement. This is something that usually does not happen during Durga Puja. Similarly, we decided to allow public transport on MG Road in Haridevpur till the time possible,” said an officer.
While there was traffic pressure on Rashbehari Avenue, APC Roy Road and Chetla Road from early evening on Panchami, the police managed to keep it moving.
An officer pointed out that hundreds of people walked towards Tollygunge as buses and autos did not cross Karunamoyee Bridge. “We received complaints that the ban on public transport there from 4 pm was too early. So, we will decide on the no-entry as the crowd swells,” he said.
Police acknowledged parking, especially those near pandals, would remain a serious issue. “The focus should be on keeping an eye on illegal parking, which may eat up road space. From Chaturthi, we adopted the chase-and-challan policy,” said a DCP at Lalbazar. Commuters are equally concerned about parking, caught between leaving their vehicles far away and the possibility of their cars being clamped for ‘illegal parking’. Dhruba Guha from Behala said, “Parking lots should be marked clearly. No cop could guide me to a parking zone on Rashbehari Avenue, instead they told me to keep driving. Will I park at Gariahat to visit Tridhara?” he said.
A Lalbazar officer said unlike what many thought, cops stayed alert even in the mornings. “In Behala, we kept a bike clamped to a wrecker van as a dummy to deter illegal parking,” he said. But complaints of illegal parking did come in from several spots, including Bidhan Sarani and APC Roy Road.