Unauthorised cuts on Chandigarh-Zirakpur road divider major traffic hazard

Tribune News Service

Gaurav Kanthwal

Zirakpur, May 30

Several unauthorised cuts on the Chandigarh-Zirakpur National Highway from Chandigarh border to the Singhpura Chowk are posing a serious risk to the road users here. Pedestrians, two-wheeler riders, and sometimes even four-wheeler drivers try to cross over from one side of the road to the other in a bid to avoid designated U-turns ahead.

• On May 28, a Haryana Roadways bus carrying a two dozen passengers overturned on the road near a filling station in Zirakpur. The passengers and bus driver suffered minor injuries as the public transport bus hit a divider while trying to save a scooterist and overturned on the road.
• On May 24, two cars and a truck were damaged while their occupants were injured after an accident took place near the Metro point in Zirakpur. The driver of a luxury car going down the flyover had applied brakes suddenly in the middle of the road, leading to a collision between three vehicles.

Lack of effective plugging of these points, laxity in surveillance are only encouraging this reckless behaviour by some traffic offenders. The biggest culprit, of course, is the missing traffic sense and utter disregard for own safety and the others on road.

Two-wheeler drivers can be seen taking wrong turns in the face of the onrush traffic just ahead of the new flyover on the Zirakpur side.

“There is no effective road divider on the Chandigarh-Zirakpur National Highway near the flyover in front of the filling station. Two-wheeler drivers and pedestrians on the highway take an unauthorised U-turn or try to cross the road amidst heavy movement of vehicles, often leading to accidents,” said Ajay Sharma, a VIP road resident, who commutes between Zirakpur and Chandigarh daily.

Road users said early morning and evening hours witness maximum incidents as traffic rush is high and visibility is less.

The Zirakpur Municipal Council and traffic police put up grills and increased the height of the parapets near the Metro point from where the pedestrians and two-wheelers try to cross over the road. But now, the traffic offenders have found a new spot, a little ahead of the plugged spot, to cross over.

Zirakpur traffic officials said the situation has improved in the past one year. The unauthorised cuts are plugged from time to time and is an ongoing process.

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