Automatic barriers set up for one-way traffic now defunct

Rajiv Mahajan

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Nurpur, September 11

The local administration had installed two automatic barricades on the exit points of the town in May 2015 to enforce one-way traffic. Over Rs 1.70 lakh was spent on these barriers, which were set up with financial assistance from the Municipal Council (MC). However, the barricades are not working for the past two years. Also, a police hut built along with these barricades to control traffic is being used as a dustbin by residents.

The barriers were installed at Niazpur near the mini secretariat building on the Court Road. The one-way traffic system flopped in town as the barriers stopped working and the police huts too have been lying idle. No police or Home Guards personnel have been deployed here. Traffic rules are being violated by habitual offenders, causing frequent traffic jams in markets.

As per the one-way traffic system, notified by the district administration on February 1, 2015, no four-wheeler is allowed to enter the town from Niazpur and the Court Road. Such vehicles can enter from Chogan and exit to Niazpur and the Court Road. Chogan and Niazpur are the connecting points to the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway No. 154.

The plan was to be enforced from 8 am to 8 pm on all weekdays, whereas heavy goods vehicles had been restricted from 8 am to 7 pm. But after the closure of the automatic barricades, heavy-load vehicles and tractor-trolleys can be seen moving around in congested markets during restricted hours, causing chaos. Two-wheelers parked on the roadside also creates traffic congestion in the town.

Surinder Sharma, SDPO, Nurpur, said he had joined office recently. He assured of reviewing the notified one-way traffic system.