Accident-prone zone, bus will not stop here ? the writing on the traffic signal post at the Jawaharlal Nehru Road-AJC Bose Road is a truth and a lie.

It?s true that the chaotic crossroad is a death trap; it?s a lie that buses do not stop there.

On Thursday morning, 32-year-old Shakuntala Sinha fell victim to a rare bus that did not stop at the intersection, but, instead, mowed down the mother and seriously injured the son.

?The crossing is dangerous for pedestrians as well as for motorists,? admitted an official of the traffic department.

An officer of Maidan police station, a few metres from the accident spot, elaborated: ?During peak hour, the crossing becomes a mess because of mismanagement. Even though there is no bus stop at the intersection, both private and government buses are allowed to stop here, adding to the chaos. The designated bus stops on both AJC Bose Road and Jawaharlal Nehru Road remain empty.?

The absence of traffic lights for pedestrians compounds matters. ?There are three signal posts with pedestrian lights, but none of them works. As a result, pedestrians try and cross the road whenever they spot a gap in the traffic flow,? said an officer of the traffic department.

As far as zebra crossings go, there is one on AJC Bose Road from Exide to Haldiram?s and on Jawaharlal Nehru Road from Haldiram?s to Maidan police station.

But there is no zebra crossing in front of Maidan thana on AJC Bose Road and between the two Metro entry-exit points on Jawaharlal Nehru Road. This was corroborated by the traffic department.

Jawed Shamim, deputy commissioner of police (traffic department), admitted that the intersection was one of the most accident-prone zones, with traffic flow from several sides.

But he pinned most of the blame for the passage being perilous on the pedestrians.

?The most critical thing about this crossing is that people don?t want to waste a single second here after getting off buses or coming out of the Rabindra Sadan Metro station. They are always in a hurry ? whether they are going to work or whether they are headed home,? he declared.