Cuttack, Oct. 6: Pandal hoppers will find it easier to reach Puja mandaps as police have decided to impose one-way traffic on prominent routes for better crowd and traffic management across the city.
The temporary restrictions will be clamped from 4pm to midnight for a period of five days starting from Sashthi to Dashami.
Traffic sources said that around 3.5 lakh people daily visited the Puja pandals in Cuttack during the five-day festival. In order to ease their pandal hopping, authorities are going to clamp the traffic restrictions. A senior traffic official said devotees coming to Cuttack would find it easier in reaching various Puja mandaps through suitable routes.
It has been decided that all vehicles coming from Link Road will be diverted to Dolmundai via Badambadi. From there, the vehicles will be allowed to move towards Malgodown and Chatrabazar. Vehicles from the Dolmundai side will not be allowed to move straight towards Ranihat as the traffic will be diverted towards Bajrakabati Road. Commuters will then be allowed to move towards Buxi Bazar or Mangalabag via Kesharpur. Heavy vehicles from Nayabazar will not be allowed to move towards OMP Square and will diverted towards Press Chhak or Kalia Boda via Nuapada.
"There will be additional deployment of traffic constables at Choudhry Bazaar, Ranihat, Mangalabag, College Square, Nayasarak, Chandni Chhak and Buxi Bazaar, as these routes bear extra traffic load during the Puja," said assistant commissioner of police P.K. Dalai.
Adequate information about the one-way traffic arrangements and temporary restrictions will be provided at multiple locations through public address systems.
For the first time this year, the traffic wing has also come up with pre-recorded messages containing detailed information about the routes that one needs to take to visit Puja pandals from areas, such as Badambadi, Sikharpur, Dolmundai, Ranihat and College Square. The pre-recorded messages will be aired through public address systems at Badambadi and on Link Road. "Apart from this, CDs containing pre-recorded messages about the routes will also be played near every Puja pandal in the city. This will help pandal hoppers get detailed information about which routes to follow," said Dalai.
He further told The Telegraph the city had been divided into eight sectors and four zones for fast clearance of traffic from near the Puja pandals. More than 70 officers, 200 home guards, 140 traffic constables and nine platoons of police will be deployed from tomorrow till Dashami for enforcement of the one-way traffic system and also to ensure smooth traffic movement during the festivity. Motorcycle-borne cops will also be roaming around city streets to assist the existing staff and clear the congestion on prominent routes during the Puja. A squad has also been formed to ensure that vehicles are not parked illegally and also that street vendors do not encroach upon the roads by setting up temporary kiosks at places, including Choudhry Bazaar, Chandni Chowk, Haripur and Ranihat.
Shivani Swain, 34, a marketing executive, who stays in Bhubaneswar, said: "Last year, it was bit problematic for us as we had no information about the lanes and which routes to take to avoid congestion near the pandals."
Swain said the decision to explain the routes at multiple locations would help people who are new to the city.
Local resident Mahadev Sethi said one-way traffic was a must for ensuring smooth flow of traffic.
"But, the traffic wing should also ensure that ambulances and even private vehicles carrying patients are allowed to move quickly near the SCB Medical College and Hospital," he said.
