Indian Express 30.11.2010
Poor planning, rickshaw tracks slow traffic on SPM Marg
Geeta Gupta Tags : corporation, pilot project Posted: Tue Nov 30 2010, 05:52 hrs
New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) pilot project to decongest SP Mukherjee Marg by segregating motorised and non-motorised vehicles is causing nightmares for commuters. Separate tracks for cycle-rickshaw were constructed by the civic agency to ease pressure on this road, which sees massive congestion and leads to the Old Delhi Railway Station. But the move only reduced the road width, leading to massive traffic pile ups till Daryaganj, as the lanes are seldom used by rickshaws due to the shoddy construction.When Newsline visited the SPM stretch on Monday, it found that not many rickshaw-pullers were using the tracks. While some had trouble with the gradient and continuity, others were not even aware that there was a separate lane to pull rickshaws on.
“It used to take just five minutes to clear the stretch but now it takes about an hour,” said Yudhveer Mathur, a resident of Chandni Chowk. The narrow road has shrunk further with the construction of cycle tracks in the area, as the construction design has blocked all free left turns with bollards. The vehicles turning left now wait along with other vehicles at the main traffic signals, making the waiting time longer for all, even as pedestrian pathways are blocked by encroachments.
Sanjay Bhargava, the general secretary of Chandni Chowk Traders’ Association, has been running from pillar to post trying to get things rectified. “I have written to the L-G at least seven times, but no action has been taken. Cycle-rickshaw tracks have been created with public money and nobody is using them. All non-motorised vehicles are using the main carriageway, causing traffic congestion on arterial roads. This is contrary to the provisions of the 2021 Masterplan, and no department cared to get a scientific survey done before constructing these tracks,” Bhargava said.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Satyendra Garg said: “It is true that there is tremendous congestion on the SPM Marg and motorists face massive delays. The traffic tail reaches Koria Pull by 7 pm when it is time for the market to shut. The closing down of free left-turns added to the problems.”
