Festive rush, encroachments choke roads

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 12

The festival rush has resulted in traffic problems across the city. The traffic police are yet to streamline the flow of vehicles. The situation is worse in the walled city areas. Commuters remain stranded for long on roads to travel just for a few kilometres. Roadside encroachments have added to their woes.

On the eve of Lohri, a large number vendors, selling groundnuts and popcorn, have installed their stalls alongside roads. Shopkeepers, too, have installed tents outside their establishments to draw customers.

Even parking lots have been encroached upon. The slip road alongside the BRTS track has also been occupied by vendors. Officials of the Municipal Corporation (MC) appear to have turned a blind eye to the encroachments.

Though a few cops have been deployed to streamline the traffic, the arrangement is insufficient. A traffic policeman, who didn’t wish to be named, said, “Vendors and shopkeepers create mess by displaying their products on roads. The MC is the competent authority to deal with encroachments. We can just discourage people from resorting to haphazard parking.”