Traffic chaos clogs the mouth of a narrow corridor that links the city to the main airport artery and Salt Lake. Scores of taxis, autorickshaws, buses and cars mill around Ultadanga station for the better part of the day, creating a nightmare for the commuter.

The private buses make unscheduled stops to pick up passengers holding up scores of vehicles behind them; autorickshaws take up half the carriageway forming a bottleneck and taxis refuse to run on meter and charge exorbitant rates. Traffic policemen, if present, look the other way as rules are violated at will.

“There’s not even space for the commuters to stand on the northern flank of Ultadanaga Road. Vehicles emerge from the underpass and vie for space, while hawkers occupy the footpath. It’s an absolute mess,” said Surya Sekhar Chatterjee, a state government employee who crosses the stretch every day.

It’s no better on the southern flank of the road, near the station traffic counter. Passengers walking down the platform stairs are greeted with rows of autorickshaws that block the road to the underpass.

“If you have to reach the footbridge over the intersection, you have to cross Ultadanga Road. It’s literally a question of life and death,” said Ruchira Chatterjee, a resident of Belghoria who gets off at the station while taking her mother to an eye-hospital in Salt Lake.

Though several taxis line up on the stretch, Sunil Maitra, on the way to a nursing home on EM Bypass, struggled to find one that would run on meter. “The taxis were parked illegally and were demanding extra money but when I complained to a policeman stationed there, he shooed me away,” said Maitra.

Motorists do not have it any better. “Vehicles moving towards VIP Road clog the mouth of Ultadanga Road. Therefore, even though I want to enter Salt Lake through the Hudco crossing, I have to remain stuck near Ultadanga station for a long time,” said Monimoy Ghosh, a resident of PNB.

The police admit that the congestion has a ripple effect. “The impact of traffic congestion on any of the roads that meet at Ultadanga can be felt on the other roads. So it is vital to maintain smooth flow of traffic along all the roads leading to such an important intersection,” said M. Paul, the officer-in-charge of Ultadanga traffic guard.

According to the traffic cops, faulty planning is behind all the problems.

“The road at the two ends of the underpass should be made wider so that if buses stop to pick up passengers, the vehicles behind them are not held up. There is no denying that autorickshaws and taxis park illegally near the station and we do prosecute them. But bigger changes are needed,” said Manoj Verma, the deputy commissioner (traffic).

“We have suggested to the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) that the road be widened and more space be offered to the pedestrians, so that the traffic flow is smooth. We carried out a joint inspection recently,” he added.

The police are exploring the possibility of creating a direct link from the station to the footbridge so that pedestrians headed to Salt Lake don’t need to walk down Ultadanga Road.

“We are trying to find out what percentage of pedestrians walk to the Hudco crossing from the station. A study is being conducted,” said Verma.

The taxi union blames the police for the mess. “There are several illegal taxi stands in and around the area but the police don’t remove them. The policemen harass the passengers and we take the blame,” said Ashoke Sardar, the secretary of the Citu-controlled Ultadanga taxi union.