Bhubaneswar: As the Capital city gears up to celebrate Durga Puja, beginning October 9, commuters as well as residents are preparing themselves to brace for the harrowing traffic jams and chaos that is synonymous with big pandals lining some of the arterials roads here during the festivities. It is, nevertheless, an irony that even 76 years after its existence as the state Capital, Bhubaneswar still grapples with traffic issues during peak hours regularly. The problem aggravates many folds during major events, public celebrations, or festivities, residents rued.
The snarls and the corresponding wait on roads, they said, take away the spirit of celebrations like Durga Puja. “Every year we face this issue during Durga Puja as we get struck for long hours in the traffic,” said Ramesh Jena, a resident of Bomiklhal. He said the pandal in their locality, which borders another massive stage at Rasulgarh only precipitates the traffic situation in the areas. The situation is no different on roads along popular pandals in Nayapalli and Baramunda. Urban planner Piyush Ranjan Rout said the traffic situation in the City has changed drastically over the years. “Even a couple of years ago the situation was manageable.
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Earlier, Durga Puja used to be just another autumn festival of family gatherings celebrated for three days and was limited to the neighbourhood. The crowd too was more organised. But these days, Puja has become more pompous and an occasion among various organisers to show off their money power and political clout. It is devoid of any cultural trappings,” he said. Rout said the pandals are located at strategic points and, thus, are bound to create trouble for their very patrons who live around it. He said the footfall at these venues doesn’t happen naturally as is in the case of Rath Yatra in Puri. “The rush here (at pandals) are manufactured by the puja committees by organising melody or cultural shows next to pandals irrespective of the fact that the places are located near traffic junctions, highways or hospitals. Invariably, the events lead to huge traffic jams. And, the situations are getting worse by the years,” he added.
To ease the traffic congestion, Rout suggested people to visit pandals on foot, instead of using vehicles, and create 100-metre buffer zone from the pandal prohibiting parking, or stoppage of vehicles. Meanwhile, DCP Bhubaneswar Pinak Mishra said a dedicated traffic management unit will soon be tasked to ease the congestion in major arterial roads in the City during the festivities. “The Commissionerate Police would send an alert to all police stations to remain attentive to traffic issues. Our aim will be to thwart traffic jams and remove bottlenecks in vulnerable regions of the City. A master plan will soon be released in this regard,” he said.
ARINDAM GANGULY, OP