Most of Bhubaneswar’s major junctions have traffic lights, but these stretches turn into mishap zones after police leave their duty. After 8pm, when cops quit their posts an hour ahead of duty time, chaos descends on these major city junctions. Sandeep Mishra of The Telegraph visited these busy junctions after 8pm to find traffic cops missing, leaving roads in the grip of chaos. At risk are the lives of commuters

Worst among all

For cops duty hour is 8am to 9pm, but they leave their posts an hour earlier. Their disappearance turns Ravi Talkies Square and Kalpana Square into nightmare stretches for commuters — both for motorists and pedestrians. On Thursday night, a few local residents were seen doubling up as traffic cops at the Ravi Talkies Square. The traffic congestion was very bad last night, said Jagannath Sahoo, a local resident of Old Town area. He, however, said this was a regular affair.

“It is one of the most important junctions of the city in Old Town. The presence of a number of monuments, including the Lingaraj Temple, in this area makes it the city's most crowded locality. This requires adequate traffic personnel, but only one cop is there to manage flow of vehicles. The absence of traffic lights adds to the woes,” said Sahoo.

Accident zone

Kalpana Square can only match Ravi Talkies Square in terms of chaos. The congestion on Thursday night was mainly because of wayward traffic. Furniture shopowner Bidyadhar Mohapatra, 45, said minor accidents were common at Kalpana Square. “A junction that battles congestion throughout the day becomes worse during night hours after police leave the posts. Though there are many commercial establishments in the area, no one bothers to control traffic flow,” said Mohapatra.

Trouble areas too many

These two are not the only traffic fault lines in the city. The other major ones are on National Highway-5. They are Vani Vihar Square, Acharya Vihar Square, Jayadev Vihar Square and Fire Station Square. What makes these zones even more vulnerable is the absence of traffic lights. As these junctions are on a national highway, jurisdiction of the city administration does not apply at these places. On Thursday night, The Telegraph saw chaos grip these places after traffic personnel left the scene. The chaos exposed commuters, particularly those riding two-wheelers, to mishap. A continuous chain of flyovers covers these junctions but it hardly resolves the problem, as most commuters prefer to use the roads under these overbridges.

Duty query

A senior traffic police official told The Telegraph that duty for men posted at these critical junctions was till 9 pm, while at even busier ones it was 10pm. “We will ensure that traffic cops do not leave their posts before 9pm. The police control room will be told to crack the whip on reckless drivers,” he said.

Tough task

The issue of post-8pm chaos at these major junctions is a nightmare for mayor Ananta Narayan Jena. The mayor did admit that things were beyond his control and asked commuters to enforce road discipline. “People should understand that they are putting their lives at risk in this manner. On our part we will install automated traffic lights that will operate on a 24x7. To bring violators to book, we will install closed circuit cameras at these places,” said Jena.