Illegally-parked autorickshaws at Badambadi bus stand in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack. April 4: Illegal parking of autorickshaws is regularly causing traffic congestion and inconveniencing people here.

The three-wheelers are seen parked along the Badambadi intersection, which is already struggling for space to accommodate rising number of vehicles.

Senior police officials said an enforcement drive had been launched to keep a check on errant drivers and 1,306 people had been fined so far.

“We will soon launch a crackdown on illegal parking and overloading of passengers by autorickshaws. The issue of dedicated autorickshaw stands will also be discussed at the meeting of the traffic management committee,” said a senior traffic official.

“It is impossible to pass through Badambadi without being stuck in a traffic jam because of these illegal autorickshaw stands that have come up in and around the bus stand, just few meters away from the police station,” said Umakant Das, a commuter.

He said there were at least seven unauthorised autorickshaw bays that occupy a major chunk of the road. This is causing severe obstruction in the flow of traffic here.

Autorickshaw stands that have come up illegally near Palamandap, Vishal Hotel, Badambadi bus stand and near Ganesh temple are to be blamed for acute congestion at Badambadi, a major traffic intersection in the city.

“Apart from autorickshaws, illegal parking of buses on the entire stretch of Badamabadi up to Madhupatna is also another cause for concern,” said Akash Sahu, a resident of Sankarpur.

Sahu said more than 100 idle buses were parked on both sides of the road, leading to utter chaos. Although two bus parking bays had come up at Link Road to facilitate easy pick and drop of passengers, it had failed to resolve these problems. Local residents said that lack of dedicated parking bays for autorickshaws had resulted in the traffic chaos at various major city intersections.

Apart from Badambadi, the worst-affected places also include SCB Medical College and Hospital Road, Ranihat, College Square and Jobra.

On the other hand, president of the autorickshaw union Subhash Singh alleged that the Cuttack Municipal Corporation had failed to initiate measures for the establishment of auto parking bays in the city.

“For almost five years now, no step has been taken to construct autorickshaw stands. We hope that the problem is resolved after the authorities build the proposed parking bays at 11 identified places in the city,” said Singh.