By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, May 4: A cluster of illegal stands, which seems to be illegitimate brainchildren of the police, on either side of tiol Highway 37 in the Jalukbari Chowk area in the city are infamous for creating chaos for vehicular traffic. If these haphazard stands together are a golden goose for the traffic police, they are a real hellhole for commuters who have to bear the brunt of the chaos.
Hazy is the situation there, both for vehicles and people heading for various destitions in lower Assam. There is an illegal stand near the Lachit Park in the area where various types of vehicles and commuters are seen crowded all throughout the day and in the evening. The situation has been aggravated with a number of vendors doing business there.
In the University side of the highway too there is a stand almost attached to the highway. It too adds the confusion and chaos to the situation. Not too far away near Bhupen Hazarika’s Samadhi there is also a stand that remains crowded with commuters, vendors and vehicles throughout the day. As though to add to the woes, some stands are also allowed to spring up at the spot where the Jalukbari police station was located earlier. What the entire Jalukbari Chowk area displays now can be called an extremely haphazard traffic magement of a haphazardly organized police force.
This cluster of stands leads to traffic srls and accidents every now and then. The traffic srls affected a large number of commuters as this is a spot where vehicles to and from Guwahati, Amingaon, airport, Chhaygaon, Goalpara, Dhubri, etc., leave and come. Thus the mismagement of traffic at this Chowk has its effect almost throughout lower Assam.
Vendors doing business there under the very nose of the police personnel add to the woes. It is worth mentioning here that Guwahati DCP (traffic) Prabjyoti Goswami banned vending on footpaths, carriage ways and nearby areas in sheds etc., within a radius of 200 metres around Jalukbari Rotary in the city with immediate effect under 144 CrPC. He said that the ban would continue till further notice. The move has been taken to ease out traffic srls in the area. Will the DCP succeed in his effort or has he taken the move seriously? It was seen today that the very area is full of vendors doing business under the very nose of policemen even as the ban was supposed to be effective now.