Traffic congestion during the opening and closing hours of schools has been a long-time headache for the city traffic authorities. The crowd of shoppers ahead of Durga Puja has only added to the problem, prompting Kolkata Traffic Police to include school timings in its daily traffic alert from Tuesday.
Areas around schools and shopping hubs — Park Street, Sarat Bose Road, SN Banerjee Road, and Ballygunge — are the worst-affected. Cars and school buses parked by the side of the road along with parents waiting for their children hinder the smooth flow of traffic in these areas,” said an officer of the city traffic police department.
The officer said several schools did not allow their buses and parents on the premises despite having ample space. “This is actually intensifying the traffic issue, especially at this time of the year.”
Kolkata Traffic Police has decided to post regular updates of school timings on its social media page. “This is not going to be a daily thing, but we would post such information from time to time to make people aware about the traffic situation of the city,” said deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Sunil Kumar Yadav.
“Besides, the schools have been advised to adjust their opening and closing hours so that not all of them start and disperse around the same time in a locality. However, they are yet to take action in this regard,” said DCP Yadav.
