Diverting traffic routes during every Vidhan Sabha session and making public wait on the roads to cover even short distances has become a custom in Dehradun. Instead of making people suffer on roads during Assembly sessions, the government should prevent public inconvenience. These sentiments were expressed by the people who had to face traffic jams on various roads of the city on Monday due to the traffic diversions owing to the ongoing three-day Vidhan Sabha session.
“I started half an hour early from my home to go to work as I was stuck in traffic the last time too but I still had to wait for twenty minutes in traffic on the way from Dharmpur Chowk to ISBT. I read that the police makes the route diversions after planning thoroughly but I doubt it that we really do not have any other way of making this process less stressful for the public,” said local resident Abhishek Gusain.
Another local resident Kalpana said that she too had to face heavy traffic on Mata Mandir Road around 11 AM on Monday while she was going to work. Deepa Chauhan stated that it took her 40 minutes to reach Fountain Chowk from Saharanpur Chowk in a car due to diversions. According to her, “I have observed that it takes more time for cars to go through heavy traffic than the two wheelers. The bike riders take smaller lanes if they can but the cars have to wait longer in traffic. The authorities should make proper arrangements for traffic during such diversions as it happens during every Vidhan Sabha session and it’s been happening for years.”
Many locals expressed their disappointment with the authorities and stated that the government should act responsibly towards the citizens. “It has been so common during Assembly sessions here that we do not even feel like complaining about this anymore. It is still a big issue but we know that the authorities are not going to do anything about it,” said a graduate student Shruti Khansali.
Tuesday, 22 December 2020 | PNS | Dehradun
