Had Arun Sharma, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), accompanied the high court-appointed team ? of which he is a member ? to survey traffic-related problems in Calcutta, he would have witnessed some of his men in action at the crossroads of chaos.

Policemen taking bribes, pavements overrun by hawkers, forcing pedestrians on to the street ? it was all happening on Monday afternoon.

The committee on the move ? with deputy commissioner Sharma missing in action (when asked why, he refused comment) ? comprising high court advocates Tapas Kumar Bhanja, Aurobindo Chatterjee, Subrata Mukherjee and Debasish Kar Gupta, took its first reality check of vehicular and pedestrian congestion.

?It was a horrible experience. Serious accidents can occur any time. Hawkers have completely taken over the pavements of Brabourne Road. Pedestrians have no option but to risk walking down the carriageway, where vehicles are illegally parked on both sides,? said Bhanja.

In the trade hub, a home guard was oblivious to the inspection, rapt in taking bribes from van-rickshaw operators. With clockwork efficiency, he would stick his palm ? or palms ? out to grab whatever came his way, at almost a-bribe-a-minute strike rate.

The four advocates, forced to abandon their car on Brabourne Road and continue on foot, seemed appalled at the state of affairs. ?I was surprised to see that the pavements of Strand Road have been encroached upon by roadside eateries and tea stalls. They said they pay the police on a monthly basis,? said Mukherjee.

On NS Road, the team came across an illegal three-tier parking lot. Card-makers and hawkers had encroached on three-fourth of the roadspace on Canning Street.

?We found lorries and van-rickshaws illegally parked along and around Brabourne Road. There were cars parked on the pavements of Strand Road. Food and fruit vendors have taken over the footpaths of NS Road and Brabourne Road,? complained Bhanja. ?And there were very few policemen managing traffic,? he added.

On April 1, a division bench of Calcutta High Court, comprising Chief Justice V. S. Sirpurkar and Justice Ashoke Kumar Ganguly had heard a public interest litigation moved by environment activist Subhas Dutta, relating to traffic congestion in central and north Calcutta.

The court had formed the five-member committee and directed it to submit a report on the problems and possible solutions on April 29.