Two new bottlenecks have emerged because of lack of enforcement and foresight in responding to emerging challenges in traffic management.Unruly behaviour by public transport, primarily autorickshaws, at the Delhi zoo and the failure to gauge the popularity of a thriving public space like Sunder Nursery could lead to the unravelling of the traffic corridor project, frittering away its gains.
How can autorickshaws be allowed to park in multiple lanes in front of the zoo, leaving virtually the extreme right lane for traffic to move! No wonder, the tailback on Sunday stretched to ITO and commuters had to spend 45 minutes to an hour to cover the stretch from Tilak Bridge to the zoo.
The scenario was no different on Monday, a Christmas holiday. Autos were parked haphazardly on the roadside near the zoo with a trail of vehicles trying to make their way to the zoo parking. The pavements, encroached by vendors – selling eatables to offering a quick haircut and shave – had barely any space for pedestrians to walk. So, the visitors with children in tow were forced to walk on the road. The location of two bus stands, close to this place, doesn’t help.
Around 1:30pm, it took 20 minutes to cross the stretch from the Bhairon Marg intersection to the zoo, a distance of barely 600 metres. Despite the presence of a foot overbridge – which unfortunately did not have functional elevators – the visitors preferred to brave the traffic, citing the effort required to navigate the overbridges, particularly with the children and elderly. Why have the escalators which were targeted by thieves not been repaired yet?
“Who wants to climb the stairs all the way with our bags, other items and children? It’s much easier to simply cross the road,” said Praveen Gupta of Laxmi Nagar, who had come to the zoo along with his family and two children.
The three traffic cops present at the spot looked completely unequal to the task, faced with this huge throng. They could just wave along the streaming crowd and traffic.
The second trouble spot is the Sabz Burj roundabout, gateway to Humayun’s Tomb and Sunder Nursery. This place on weekends has always experienced congestion because of cars lining up to park. According to the cops, around 15,000 people had visited Sunder Nursery on Sunday with around 10,000 reaching by 2:30 pm, not counting the number of visitors at Humayun’s Tomb and to the church in the vicinity because of Christmas.
Sunder Nursery has parking space for 400 cars and there is a public parking lot for another 150. According to sources in the administrative office of the nursery, about 75% of the visitors use public transport. The traffic police need to work with the nursery authorities to sort out the problem without making the area out of bounds for people. Such vibrant public spaces are needed in the city and should be accessible to people.
“The space is huge but the parking facility is only for around 100 cars (municipal parking lot). The people who are coming to the nursery in cabs or private cars first stop at the cut and then take some time to remove the items for their picnic causing a pile-up. Irrespective of how much you ask them not to walk on the road, they still do it,” said a traffic cop. He added that in such a scenario, regulation of traffic becomes a priority.