One-way traffic plan for core Haridwar city zone

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, May 24

A new traffic plan has been implemented from the Shivmoorti square till the Devpura square in the core inner city zone. This one-way traffic plan, if successfully implemented, will ease congestion on the route.

Circle officer (Traffic) Prakash Devli told The Tribune today that a large number of people travel on this route that leads to Har-ki-Pauri and passes through the railway station and the bus station. “Auto-rickshaws, e-rickshaws and tongas carrying devotees during days of festive baths ply on this stretch, often causing traffic jams. Hence, the administration often had to prohibit vehicular movement till Devpura or the Lal Taura bridge. Now, barriers have been put up on this stretch and we think the traffic problem will ease to some extent,” said Devli.

Notably, large scale encroachment has cropped up from the Shivmoorti square till the Devpura square on both sides of the road in the past few years. Unauthorised taxi and bus stands have also come up, which often lead to traffic jams even on normal days. A large number of dharamshalas, ashrams, hotels, and guest houses in the area also make it a busy stretch.

But, now the traffic condition will surely improve with one-way traffic movement on the stretch. Auto-rickshaws moving towards the Jwalapur-Ranipur-Chandracharya square will move from the Shivmoorti square through the Tulsi square, Narayani Shilla, Pt Gobind Ballabh Pant Park, and the Chandracharya square, while those going to the railway station or the bus station through the Devpura square will have to take a U-turn on this stretch.

Local resident Arun Ohri said it was a good move, but it all depends on how efficiently the traffic police monitor the movement of auto-rickshaws on the stretch. “It is good that a one-way traffic plan has been implemented but auto-rickshaws going to the railway station and the bus station from the Shiv Moorti square, and the Devpura square should also be regularly monitored. This is a small distance and auto-rickshaws instead prefer to ferry passengers to Ranipur, BHEL and Jwalapur,” said Ohri.