The Dehradun police conducted the second trial of the one-way system on various city roads on Friday to check its feasibility on a working day. However, the experience of the traffic plan trial was not the same for all people in the city.
According to Ramdhir Singh, a daily wage worker, "I was supposed to reach my work site by 11 am, and for last one hour, I am just trying to figure out from where I will get the bus for ISBT. Some are telling me to go to that side of the road, some are telling me to go to another route. I am confused and even if I get the bus now, I will just get paid for half day. Why do authorities not think about the poor and illiterate people? If I would have been aware of the plan I would have made some arrangement to travel to the work site.”
College student Upasana Chauhan said, “The roads looked chaotic when I was going to college in the morning but it seemed better later in the day. Of course, the routes for vehicles have been changed which makes you travel at least one kilometre extra but there is no traffic jam on my route so I am happy about it. Travelling a few extra miles is better for me than to be stuck in traffic.”
“The traffic was smooth for me when I started driving from my home in Rajpur Road but it became chaotic near Tehsil and MKP Chowk. The commuters in two-wheelers are still managing somehow to get through the jam but it’s hard to get through traffic by car. I don’t think that there are proper arrangements by police to handle such a big crowd. I mean, of course they are managing vehicles on every route but it is too time consuming. The plan might work for few routes but collectively everywhere, I doubt it,” said Abhishek Thapa
“It is an important step taken by the police. Many people are talking about inconvenience they are facing due to the trial but I am sure that once the plan is executed fully, people will get used to it. Every new thing seems difficult initially but we ultimately get the hang of it. I, too, have to ride at least twice the distance I usually travel but I did not get stuck in the traffic which I appreciate,” said Dinesh Naithani, an ex-army man.
It is pertinent to mention here that one trial has already been done on Sunday but according to deputy inspector general and Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Arun Mohan Joshi Therefore, trial of traffic plan on a busy day will help police to understand the issues and challenges in intersections and other routes which will assist in enhancing the plan. It has also been cleared by SSP that the traffic plan is not a short term planning for the ongoing work of the smart city project. According to him the traffic plan was planned after proper study and hard work of the department so it will be implemented as a long term plan to make the traffic system more efficient but only after successful trials and positive results.
