Buses flout halt ban on Cuttack’s busy roads

As per reports, Commissionerate Police on September 1 had banned halting of buses randomly to solve the persistent traffic problems and decongest the main road.
Traffic congestion on Madhupatna-Badambadi road in Cuttack | Rashmiranjan
Traffic congestion on Madhupatna-Badambadi road in Cuttack | Rashmiranjan

CUTTACK: In gross violation of restrictions imposed by Commissionerate Police, private buses continue to pick and drop passengers anywhere on the roads, often leading to traffic congestion in the stretch from Madhupatna to Badambadi.Lack of enforcement activities is said to have facilitated bus staff to flout the ban openly and ply as per their whims.

As per reports, Commissionerate Police on September 1 had banned halting of buses randomly to solve the persistent traffic problems and decongest the main road.About 1000 buses ply from Badambadi bus stand daily. Due to illegal halting, the busy road often gets congested and creates traffic snarls. For convenience of passengers, police had demarcated one bus stop near Nishamani Talkies on the stretch. Similarly, while Cuttack bound buses coming from Bhubaneswar were restricted from halting before Madhupatna square, buses proceeding towards Bhubaneswar were allowed to halt only at Khapuria bus bay after Madhupatna.

Before imposing the restrictions, Commissionerate Police had also held a meeting with bus owners and requested them to refrain from illegal halting on the said stretch, warning them of stringent action if the restrictions were flouted.

Abiding by the rules and restriction, the buses had stopped halting arbitrarily for the first few days. However, they resumed the illegal practice soon after as enforcement of the restriction was not closely monitored. “There is no deployment of police to watch and enforce the rule or slap fine on errant buses,” said Bibhu Prasad Parija, a resident of Badambadi. “Unless enforcement activity is intensified on daily basis, the menace will never be curbed,” he added.ACP Traffic Jatin Panda, however, assured that enforcement will soon be intensified.

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