Reopening of schools, rain choke city roads

KOLKATA: The city roads turned nightmarish for commuters on Wednesday morning, what with all schools reopening after summer vacation and the monsoon setting in. The situation was compounded in the afternoon by breakdowns of vehicles at critical points and political protests in front of the state election commission’s office located near major schools.
Park Circus-bound traffic crawled on Maa Flyover in the morning as multiple vehicles broke down, forcing the flyover to be shut for 10 minutes.In the south, another breakdown in the middle of Bijan Setu affected Kasba-bound traffic for around 50 minutes around the same time. In the afternoon, Sarat Bose Road turned chock-a-blocs as dispersal from schools coincided with a political protest nearby.
Kolkata Traffic Police said multiple measures had been planned to counter the increasing number of breakdowns, especially on the elevated corridors in the city. “We have carved out slots on Maa flyover to park broken down vehicles. But it takes time to push a breakdown car to the side,” said an East traffic guard officer. “We are also helping KMDA clean the road early in the morning and sweep away all nails and other items to root out the possibility of punctures.”
Police have also decided to use alternative routes to divert vehicles whenever they stagnate at any given point, especially during school dispersals. “Like we divert vehicles to Park Circus connector when Maa Flyover chokes, we have decided to use Wood Street, Pretoria Street and Lord Sinha Road for smaller vehicles in case of jams,” said an officer.
But some old issues persisted. On AJC Bose Road, between Mullick Bazar and Moulali, vehicles were still allowed to park in two lanes. Police said they had no choice as there was hardly any other alternative option for vehicles picking up kids from schools. Darga Road, too, witnessed multiple-lane parking though police were quick to clear them. They ensured Suhrawardy Avenue and Syed Amir Ali Avenue stayed clear. “An additional OC was asked to move away vehicles as soon as they picked up children,” said an officer.