Traffic congestion on MG Road near Ghantaghar Chowk in Bhagalpur. Picture by Amit Kumar

Bhagalpur, April 6: This ancient silk city is no exception to the daily traffic problems that plague other developing towns and cities. Over the past four months, several people have been killed owing to absence of proper traffic management policy.

People have started blaming the government for not taking appropriate measure to counter the rising traffic problem. “NH-80 passes through the heart of the city where schools, colleges, university, hospital are located,” Mangesh Singh, a resident of Bhagalpur said.

“Traffic congestion increased here in the past 10 years after the township expanded. The Vikramshila bridge across Ganga has increased the traffic load as vehicles from NH-30 (Assam road) have started entering here,” said Sabbu Kumar, a contractor-based here.

“The Bhagalpur township has started expanding from Nathnagar on the west and Sabour on the east because of spurt in population. But compared to the rise in population nothing has been done in areas like roadways and drainage system,” said Babloo Kumar, a resident of Bhagalpur. Many believe rampant encroachment on every important road has become a common phenomenon. “Walking in the market areas or other important places is very difficult because of encroachment,” said Pinku Baba, a transporter.

According to Shiv Shanker Mishra, district transport officer, traffic problem in the city has increased in matter of days. A source said the district has 91,405 small and big vehicles registered with the DTO here. “Many vehicles don’t have any registration, besides hundreds of vehicles from outside enter the city everyday. On the other hand, road space is the same and no modification has been done to the old roads,” the source said.

“I have to face difficulties while moving on the streets in Bhagalpur. I have instructed officials concerned to take notice of the problem many times,” said Ashwini Kumar Choubey, state health minister and local BJP MLA here. Former divisional commissioner, Dipak Prasad on January 17 had conveyed a high-level meeting here to discuss the traffic problem.

The present commissioner, D.S. Pandey, on March 17, again convened a similar meeting but nothing has been done in this regard. Mayor Bina Yadav has vouched for a master plan to counter the traffic problem. “A new master plan is required immediately as the city is expanding rapidly. Besides, works should be completed to open the NH-80 bypass immediately so that additional traffic from outside the city could be checked,” she said.

Sila Irani, the deputy superintendent of police and traffic-in-charge in Bhagalpur, said because of lack of manpower in the traffic police department, problems have compounded. “The rising number of autorickshaws is another factor responsible for the traffic congestion. I had a meeting with the auto drivers and have sensitised them about the guidelines,” she said.

Janardan Singh Kashyap, executive engineer, public works department and Rakesh Kumar executive engineer, NH-80 Bhagalpur division, however, blamed the local administration for encroachment. “Many single roads have been converted in double lanes but the old electric poles in many places still exist. We have requested the Bihar State Electricity Board officials to remove the poles but nothing has happened,” they said.