Enough has been said about the traffic congestion in Bhubaneswar,
which is only getting worse over the years and with no solution in the
foreseeable future. Anyone commuting within the city or coming to
Bhubaneswar from nearby areas knows what it takes to reach our
destinations. I have been living in this city for the last 25 years
and traffic congestion is getting worse with each passing day. The
traffic police personnel do their best to regulate it but thousands of
cars are thronging and clogging roads, at times rendering them
helpless. Although this congestion is a perennial problem, it is most
acute during school hours. It seems that most of the congestion occurs
because of numerous crossing points along the roads. If the traffic
flows continuously even at a slow pace, the problem will be much less.
Apparently, the greater challenge lies in keeping a smooth flow of
traffic rather than controlling the number of vehicles on the road. If
the Government can come up with some innovative designs to circumvent
and keep traffic flowing in all directions at these junctions, it will
be a lesser evil. To make matters worse, people’s driving behavior has
degenerated. Bhubaneswr proudly held the badge as a city of
disciplined drivers, but not anymore. In my initial years in
Bhubaneswar, I happily observed cars patiently waiting in long queues
at traffic stops and not a single car overtaking. But people have
become impatient now. Breaking queues and overtaking at traffic stops
have become commonplace. This doesn’t help anyone; rather it causes
much inconvenience to the incoming vehicles in narrow areas. It also
causes irritation in the minds of other motorists who are patiently
waiting in queues for a long time. The Bhubaneswar Traffic Police need
to take notice and penalize such unruly drivers. We should not allow
such undisciplined behavior to gradually creep into our habits.
Another worrying behavior I lately noticed is some motorists
nonchalantly stopping the car on the road and engaging in brief yet
lively talk with fellow drivers or roadside shopkeepers. They are
unmindful of the inconvenience caused to other vehicles behind them,
more so, when people are already stressed with traffic congestion. At
the end, I urge the Government to come up with plans and implement
them seriously to mitigate the problems. We the public also need to
make course corrections in our road manners. Let’s not pollute the
beautiful city and make our ride in the city roads horrible with our
unruly behaviour.

(The writer is a resident of E-237, GGP Colony, Bhubaneswar-751025, and works with NSS, CHSE, Odisha. Mob: 9437616497)