By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 21 Dec: In a bid to enhance the city’s traffic system, District Magistrate Savin Bansal and Senior Superintendent of Police once again took a two-wheeler ride to identify and rectify shortcomings in traffic management in the city. Continuous efforts are being made to improve parking and traffic flow in the city.
During a Road Safety Committee meeting held today, the DM emphasised the committee’s broad powers, granted by the Court, to implement road improvements under the Disaster Management Act 2005. He reminded that the Committee is an empowered committee and it does not need to seek permission of various other authorities to enforce certain changes to improve road safety. Bansal stressed upon the necessity of reducing high-speed driving on roads and called for continuous improvements.
It was witnessed that despite the Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) having two gates for movement of buses in the ISBT area, buses were being previously operated from a single gate only. The new directive states that vehicles heading to Rishikesh, Haridwar, Kotdwar, and the Garhwal and Kumaon regions will use Gate No 2 for both exit and entry. Vehicles to Saharanpur and Delhi will exit from gate No 1 but enter through gate No 2 only.
To prevent traffic congestion caused by the buses while boarding and deboarding passengers outside the ISBT area, the new directive mandates that these activities occur only at designated spots. Vehicles not complying with the rules would be seized and brought to Rangers Ground, and repeated offenders would also face license suspension. The Superintendent of Police Traffic and Assistant Divisional Transport Officer have been assigned responsibility for enforcing these measures.
At the junction point below the ISBT flyover, traffic congestion caused by vehicles moving between Niranjanpur Mandi, Kargi Chowk, and Turner Road is being addressed. Two-wheelers and four-wheelers from Niranjanpur Mandi will be diverted via the flyover from Junction Island towards Kargi Chowk to reduce traffic pressure on the service road and junction point. The left turn of the flyover towards Kargi will open after ensuring due security measures.
In the ISBT area, around the bus stand, vehicles belonging to commercial establishments, e-rickshaws, small elephants, Tata Magic, and other passenger vehicles are being parked on the main road due to a lack of proper parking spaces. The city magistrate, assistant divisional transport officer, and executive engineer PWD have been directed to ensure smooth traffic movement by arranging for immediate parking facilities under the flyover.
