Hyderabad: Be it railway stations, traffic signals, temples or bus stations, street vendors are widespread. Their presence in big quantities on most of the city’s roads causes traffic snarls. Hence, they are one of the many causes of traffic congestion at numerous junctions.
Traffic snarls at three major bus stands, Charminar, Jubilee Bus Stand, Mehdipatnam, and LB Nagar are commonplace. When street vendors occupy most of the space on the roads, they cause inconvenience to the pedestrians and commuters. People travelling through these stretches experience heavy traffic jams during peak hours.
Mohammed Ashwaq, a store manager, mentions “The Charminar stretch is one of the worst places to pass through. The traffic management isn’t up to the mark. Shared autos don’t really help either by stopping right in between the roads.”
Also, the absence of zebra crossings at most of the traffic signals is a major concern. The lack of road infrastructure for pedestrians to cross the arterial roads also augments traffic congestion in the city.
“It’s a big struggle for us to cross at these bus stops as there are no zebra crossings. Very few vehicles stop at the pedestrians signals,” complains T. Mohini, a house wife.
Many also complained that there is no traffic police at the major bus stops, which usually witnesses traffic congestion. Sri Vidya, a student, who regularly takes bus to her college from Charminar said, “There is no traffic police in busy hours. We will find them when traffic is scarce. We need police personnel to manage these bus stands,” she said.
A Traffic Police official, said, “We are trying our best to ensure the free flow of traffic. But with so many vehicles at peak hours coupled with less manpower, doing so is a Herculean task. We are trying our best to ensure a smooth flow of traffic at busy junctions that are difficult to travel through.”
Speaking on the issue, a Town Planning Department official of GHMC, said they are taking stringent actions on street vendors and others who occupy most of the space on the roads, thereby making way for commuters to enable smoothly flowing of traffic.”