Heavy traffic congestion has become a common feature at Cuddalore town

Heavy traffic congestion has become a common feature

CUDDALORE:

        The entire stretch of the East Coast road passing through Cuddalore town, starting from Manjakuppam to Anna bridge has become a nightmare for motorists because of the heavy congestion during peak hours.

         As almost all the private and government schools, marriage halls, cinema houses and offices are concentrated in this area, the road traffic has become almost unmanageable. Traffic jams have become a common feature in Cuddalore. The digging of trenches for laying the pipeline and construction of manholes for the underground drainage project has been continuing from January 2007, thereby causing great inconvenience and immense hardships to the commuters.

At snail's pace

            Owing to burgeoning vehicle population and narrowing down of the main thoroughfares due to encroachments, the traffic on the Bharathi Road, the Nethaji Road and the Lawrence Road moves at snail's pace and it takes over 30 minutes to cover the distance of two km. in the mornings and evenings.

Caught in traffic snarls

          For executing the underground drainage project, parts of the Nethaji Road and the Kammiampet road too have been closed for traffic. Therefore, buses and heavy vehicles going to and coming from Puducherry invariably get caught in the traffic snarl. With the re-opening of schools and colleges on June 15, the traffic problem has become aggravated as many of the students depend on motorised vehicles. A crucial stretch of the Nethaji Road has been narrowed due to encroachment and this has been further constricted by the digging of trenches.

             Such undue delay not only gets on the nerves of the motorists but also commuters' schedules into disarray. There does not seem to be any worthwhile planning to ease congestion nor is there any proper traffic management. The residents and the public are of the opinion that certain drastic measures ought to be taken to widen the roads to facilitate free flow of traffic and to ensure rights of passage to the pedestrians. But the question is who will take resolute action in this regard and when.