Traffic management at Rasulgarh Square is a nightmare for motorists and pedestrians. Sandeep Dwivedy of The Telegraph takes a look at peak-hour chaos with buses picking up passengers from the middle of the road, trucks in reckless run, autorickshaws breaking rules at will and vehicles plying on the wrong side of the road between Rasulgarh Square and Acharya Vihar Square. Lack of traffic police personnel at this busy junction only aggravates the congestion

The bottleneck

Rasulgarh Square is the first hurdle before one heads for Acharya Vihar Square from Palasuni. People coming from Cuttack and areas such as Palasuni, GGP Colony, Mancheswar Industrial Estate and the Cuttack-Puri road and going towards Acharya Vihar, Chandrasekharpur, Patia and Khandagiri use this intersection.

Culprits many

Buses plying towards Cuttack are mainly responsible for the traffic snarl. The buses violate traffic signals, over-speed, overtake from the wrong side and halt anywhere to pick-up passengers at this busy intersection. In 2012, a man was run over by a speeding truck while boarding a bus that had stopped in the middle of the road.

If buses are the main culprits, autorickshaws are no less.

"Autos do not abide by any traffic rules at this junction and add to the congestion. They overtake from the wrong side and put pedestrians lives in danger," said a local resident.

Trucks are the other menace at the junction.

Patia resident Dipak Mohapatra said a truck had hit his car at the intersection last year. "In the absence of traffic cops, trucks and buses heading towards Cuttack-Puri road and Vani Vihar Square drive recklessly and pose a threat to smaller vehicles," he said.

"Traffic congestion on the National Highway No. 5 at Rasulgarh has become a daily nuisance. The situation is worse during evening hours with commuters waiting for buses along the road," said GGP Colony resident Narendra Swain.

Bus stop, what?

Residents say absence of a designated bus stop has made matters worse. There is little hope for the situation to improve with a senior official of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation saying there is no plan to build a bus stop in the area. He blamed traffic personnel for the chaos.

"The traffic at the square is chaotic and ill-managed. A bus stop must be built to pick up or drop passengers," said Rasulgarh resident and daily commuter Debendra Sarangi.

Spot the cops

GGP Colony resident Narendra Swain shortage of police personnel is a major reason for the chaos. While cops are posted at the intersection on the stretch from Rasulgarh Square to Cuttack, no one is deployed on the other side. "The problem of vehicles coming from Palasuni, Mancheswar Industrial Estate and Vani Vihar remains unanswered," he said.

Ironically, traffic policemen also add to the problem as they stop halt vehicles midway to collect fines.

"There are 20 traffic policemen at the junction. But they are more busy collecting fines than managing the chaos," said local resident Narasingha Dhal.

Talking about the chaos, a traffic police official said: "Volunteers and more traffic personnel will shortly be posted at the square."

Bhubaneswar assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Jatin Panda said cops and home guards had been deployed at important junctions.

"Shortage of manpower remains a problem for traffic police," he said and added that once traffic volunteers were appointed, they could be used to lend a helping hand to the cops deployed between Rasulgarh and Acharya Vihar.

Another problem

If you thought getting past Rasulgarh bottleneck would ensure a smooth run, you are mistaken. On the stretch from Saheed Nagar police station to Acharya Vihar Square, your next obstacle will be at the Vani Vihar traffic signal.

Here, vehicles are parked haphazardly in front of the Regional Transport Office. The stretch has a cinema and a private hospital alongside it.

"Vehicles remain stuck here for several minutes during peak hours," said resident Narendra Deb.

Regional transport officer Lal Mohan Sethi admitted space crunch outside the office was a major issue. "Almost 5,000 people visit the office every day, but lack of space ends in haphazard parking of vehicles and traffic jam," he said, adding that earlier people used to park vehicles on the road divider in front of the office. But that is not possible since the construction of the Khandagiri flyover. The officer also said the space, where agents had their makeshift offices along with a temple, could well be utilised for parking.