Police constables man traffic on Adityapur-Kandra Road on Sunday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Residents of Adityapur, that houses the state’s largest industrial area, will soon be able to bid goodbye to their traffic woes.

The Seraikela-Kharsawan district police has sent a proposal to Kolhan commissioner Avinash Kumar for setting up a dedicated traffic police station, which they believe will help in ensuring smooth traffic flow in the district.

“Adityapur at present needs a full-fledged traffic police station at the earliest. We estimate the traffic here to increase by three-four times after the Adityapur-Kandra Road project is completed. Hence, we have sent a proposal to the Kolhan commissioner for his approval,” said Upendra Kumar, the new Seraikela- Kharsawan SP.

According to him, the proposal will go through the Kolhan commissioner and will have to be finally approved by the home department. “The entire process is expected to take around one-and-half to two months,” said Kumar.

He added that the once set up the new police station would house an adequate number of constables and some senior officers of the rank of sub-inspectors and inspectors, who would supervise the traffic movement.

“Presently, a group of eight-ten havildars who have undergone training at the Burmamines-based traffic training school are deployed on the roads. The industrial area witnesses a huge flow of traffic and the manpower at our disposal is not sufficient,” Kumar said.

At peak hours, he claimed, they had to divert resources and deploy some police constables to manage the traffic.

“That is where a dedicated traffic police station will help,” the SP said.

According to rough estimates, the Adityapur-Kandra Road witnesses a daily traffic rush of around 1 lakh heavy vehicles, which include trucks and trailers.

Apart from this there are also a sizeable number of other smaller vehicles, like auto-rickshaws, cars and two-wheelers, plying on the road at any given time adding to the chaos and madness.

The Adityapur Small Industries Association, the oldest and the largest industrial outfit of Kolhan, welcomed the move of a dedicated traffic police station.

“In the present situation the district police somehow manage to bring order on the roads. The Adityapur-Kandra road is an important thoroughfare. Proper traffic management is the only way to ensure smooth traffic flow and prevent frequent mishaps,” R.K. Sinha, president of ASIA, told The Telegraph.

He added that the Adityapur industrialists welcomed the initiative.