A day after police announced that public transport vehicles will ply on the left lane, life for commuters on roads continued to remain troublesome if not chaotic.
Cops on duty remained active asking the autorickshaws and city ride buses to comply with the regulations at different locations but the effect was minimal.
"I had read about it in the morning dailies today (Friday) and keeping that in mind, had started for my workplace. But nothing looked different on the streets, as the traffic was the same on Boring Road and Bailey Road. Though traffic was less, I saw public transport vehicles moving on all lanes as usual and stopping at any point they wanted to in order to pick up and drop passengers. This happens in Patna everyday. I saw nothing new on the streets," said Boring Road resident Jagdish Kumar Singh.
At several places like Hartali Chowk, Income Tax roundabout and others, traffic constables were seen present asking the autorickshaws and buses to follow the instructions and ply on the left lane only. Patna superintendent of police (traffic) P.K. Das said he visited Hartali Chowk and other places during the day and had warned the drivers to follow the diktat or face consequences.
"The order has been passed with the motive to streamline traffic. Earlier too, it had been directed that commercial vehicles should move on the left lane whenever they are plying on Bailey Road. However, it seems that the direction has been forgotten. The new direction talks about all the important roads of Patna like Bailey Road, Boring Road, Station Road, Fraser Road and others. If there is any kind of blockade in the left lane, the driver can move to the middle lane and then again to the left lane. However, one should understand that implementing it in full form is not an easy job and it will take some time. The police do not have a magic wand up their sleeves," the officer told The Telegraph.
Ravinder Kumar, an autorickshaw driver, said that he didn't have any idea about the new directions. "I don't read newspapers and had no clue about it until I was stopped by a constable at the Income Tax roundabout. I will try to follow the directions," he said.
However, the directive didn't go down too well with the autorickshaw associations.
"How can this direction be just passed when a majority of roads in Patna are narrow owing to construction and encroachments? Before passing such directions, the police and administration should concentrate on broadening the roads and create appropriate parking lots so that vehicles can be parked and the roads remain clear. And they should stop the registration of new private vehicles. The administration always states that public vehicles are in abundance in Patna. They can try and stop their movement and see if the traffic density has decreased or not. Just passing directives will not do," said Rajkumar Jha, the general secretary of the Bihar State Auto Chalak Sangh.
