Heavy rush of traffic on Mission Road in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, March 8: Local residents are facing problems due to traffic chaos on the Mission Road, which acts as a connecting link between Buxi Bazar and Chandi Mandir.

Several educational institutions including prominent English-medium schools are located on Mission Road, which is one of the busiest roads in the city.

“There is a heavy traffic here during peak hours as many educational institutions are located here. There has been a rise in the number of accidents in the past few months here,” said Subhranshu Das (29), a commuter. Das is a businessman and frequently travels to Chandi Mandir Square via Mission Road.

“The road is relatively wider here compared to other roads in the city. As a result, the drivers, especially motorcycle riders are seen driving their motorcycles full throttle. Reckless driving has become a common sight here,” said Kedarnath Agarwal (65), a local resident.

A six-year-old student of Buckley Primary School was critically injured in a road accident on February 24. Following the incident, an irate mob torched the van which hit the schoolgirl who was on a bicycle with her uncle near Stewart Science College on Mission Road. The driver was drunk and the vehicle was loaded with country-made liquor, which was to be transported to Bhubaneswar.

“There is neither deployment of traffic constables nor any measures to streamline traffic on the road, which is one of major roads in the city. Also, there are no speed-brakers despite schools being there,” said Rakesh Mohanty, another local resident.

Traffic sources said that adequate steps were being taken for better traffic management in the city. “There is a proposal to demolish the existing circular crossing at Buxi Bazar which is the entry point to the Misson Road. This would reduce traffic chaos as there would adequate space generated at the triangular crossing,” said an official.

Moreover, the existing electronic traffic signal at Chandi Mandir Square is working well and steps were being taken to check rash driving in the area. Steps were also being taken to introduce speed brakers and road markings with dividers on the nearly 2km road from Buxi Bazar to Chandi Mandir Square. Special drives were also being launched to check illegal parking on both sides of road from Buxi Bazar, Mission Road, Chandi Mandir Square and Kanika square, the official added.