Other States - Pondicherry   

Boom in vehicle population, yet no streamlined traffic system

Rajesh Nair

Road users have started complaining of traffic snarls and lack of parking places Four years ago, the Government commissioned a study to find out ways to ease traffic ...

PONDICHERRY: With the Union Territory registering around 10 per cent growth in vehicle population annually during the last four years and with no concrete measures in place or in the pipeline to streamline the traffic system, road users are set for difficult times in Pondicherry.

Even now, there are enough signs of what awaits commuters in the near future. Road users have started complaining of traffic snarls and lack of parking places. The traffic police personnel have started using the word "peak time", which two years ago was not in their lexicon.

Statistics available with the Regional Transport Office shows that 20,040 new vehicles were registered during 2002-03, 25,332 during 2003-04, 29,432 during 2004-05 and 30,635 in 2005-06.

During the last three months alone 12,118 new vehicles were launched on Pondicherry roads.

Statistics also reveal that 80 to 90 per cent of registered vehicles during the above period were two-wheelers. Around 40 per cent of vehicle owners live in and around the town.

Traffic movement has become extremely difficult inside the town, as a good portion of the roads has shrunk due to parking on either side. The problem is severe on JN Street, MG Road, Mission Street and Kamaraj Salai.

"Two years ago I could drive without much hassle but now the roads have become narrower.

"It is slowly becoming chaotic," says Sankar, an old-timer in Pondicherry.

A majority of the shops, hotels and establishments located inside the town do not have separate parking lots and visitors and employees are left with no option than to park their vehicles on road.

The problem was compounded by haphazard parking by some people, including Government drivers.

It is not that there are no solutions or suggestions from experts to set right the growing menace but only thing is that the authorities so far have turned a blind eye to the issue.

A few years ago, the Government decided to make the entire stretch of Grand Canal a parking area. Except a small stretch used by the traffic department for dumping confiscated vehicles, the idea remains on paper.

"If the plan was implemented fully, the entire JN Street and part of Mission Street would have been free of haphazard parking. The proposal did not take off because of stiff opposition from shop-owners," says a traffic police officer.

Four years ago, the Government commissioned a study to find out ways to ease traffic in the town. A leading construction company was assigned the task and it submitted the report more than a year ago.

Authorities at that time termed the report as "good" and said it had some worthwhile proposals.

But so far nothing concrete has taken shape.

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