Traffic congestion at Bajrakabati Road, Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Oct. 4: Swayamshree Panigrahy, a last-minute shopper from Shaktinagar, had a harrowing experience today while negotiating heavy traffic at Link Road.

Panigrahy, a student, had decided to go shopping with her friends, but it took them almost 45 minutes to reach Bajrakabati Road via Badambadi.

“The stretch from Link Road to Badambadi is usually crowded, but today the traffic was moving at a much slower pace than usual. It caused us a lot of inconvenience,” said Panigrahy.

With Dussehra being celebrated in a grand manner in the Millennium City, commuters had a tough time on prominent streets where there is an extra rush. Devotees from different parts of the state visit the city to catch a glimpse of the lavish puja held here every year.

Though measures have been taken by the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Police to streamline traffic during the festive season, including one-way traffic in the evening, these have failed to check traffic congestion during the daytime.

“For the past couple of years, we have been visiting various puja pandals in the daytime to avoid the rush and one-way traffic in the evening. But this year, we found a heavy traffic during the daytime as well,” said Ashok Sahu, a resident of Kanika Square.

There was an unprecedented rush at Mangalabag, Buxi Bazar, Ranihat, Bajrakabati Road, Kanika Square, Dolmundai and Haripur Road, which are the busiest commercial centres in the city.

Lack of adequate provision for parking also created hurdles in the path of smooth flow of traffic in these areas.

“There is always a rush during the festive season, but this time it seems no measures have been taken to regulate traffic. Mangalabag, Bajrakabati Road and other areas are badly congested,” said Kulamani Rout, a local resident.

According to Rout, many crossings, including Bajrakabati, Haripur Road and Dolmundai, are unmanned. As a result, there is utter chaos in these areas during the daytime.

Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police officials, however, said an adequate number of traffic constables and home guards had been deployed at various traffic posts and near puja pandals to regulate traffic.

“A comprehensive traffic plan has been made for Dussehra and bhasani (immersion ceremony) and special measures have been taken for the smooth flow of traffic in the city, which has been divided into eight zones,” said a senior official.

Most of the city’s traffic is diverted towards Ring Road during the evening to ease congestion.