New traffic bottlenecks emerge on Chandigarh map, roads remain choc-a-block

As the long list of events being held in the city requires proper traffic management and round-the-clock duty hours, the staff of the Chandigarh traffic police, pegged at 241, has been putting in 14-16 hours of duty every day these days. The existing strength, however, is an insufficient number for the drastic rise in traffic activity in the city, senior traffic experts say.

Going by the traffic police’s own take on the traffic bottlenecks, there is little that they can do when the number of vehicles exceeds the capacity of roads in the peak hours.

And that was evident on Sunday in the form of long traffic snarls between Transport Chowk and Housing Board light point.

There were three big events in different parts of the city lined up for the day and the traffic police had to look after the traffic arrangements at Kalagram for the National Crafts Mela, at the Haryana Raj Bhawan for the Haryana CM’s swearing-in ceremony in the afternoon and in the evening at Sector 17 where Gurdas Mann was to perform.

As the number of vehicles on city roads nears the 10-lakh mark and swells up annually with the addition of 30,000-40,000 cars, the city’s traffic infrastructure has a tough time ahead. And so has the Chandigarh traffic police, which is presently stretched to its limits while dealing with arrangements for the big events during the festive season stretching up to the year-end.

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