Bhopal: Vendors slow down traffic on 1100 Quarters Road

BHOPAL: Traffic slows down at the Bittan Market-Shahpura stretch due to traffic bottlenecks along the way.
Driving along this road is chaotic especially during morning hour rush and Tuesday and Saturday evening as residents come to visit Hanuman temple here. Why has the problem only aggravated over the years?
It's because of the row of vendors selling savouries and sweets along the road.College and school students can be seen parking their vehicles at the edge of the street and walking across the 'food lane'.
The temple devotees also park their car along the road in a haphazard manner, then there are small crowds of people near vegetable vendors who stop their vehicle on the road to buy fruits and vegetables unmindful of problems they create for others.
"I pass through this road often since I live in Trilanga. Parking of vehicles on the road is a major problem on this stretch because you have a whole set of vendors and beyond the temple on the other side, you have a number of fruit sellers, both causing people to stop their vehicles on the road. Besides, people coming to temples also park their vehicles on the road and whenever there are several vehicles," said Sudhir Singh.
He said that the BMC sanctioned "hawkers corner" is situated in front of Campion School where vendors start operating in the evening, but you have a crowd of people assembling on this road to have snacks and tea right from the morning.
Prateek Jain, who comes to the temple often, said, "It's quite a famous temple. I have been coming here since my student days. With time, the temple has expanded and of course, the devotees coming to the temple. Now, you also have a row of vendors on both sides of the road and also those of beggars. When it's dark, I have seen children begging from people coming to the temple almost coming under the cars."
It was also one of the places where traffic police had put up speed-breakers when the cops on their own decided to install speed-breakers at places where they thought the traffic had to be controlled though they were soon removed as they were found substandard.
"There is space behind the footpath where a parking lot can be established or somewhere in the proximity of the temple and the "mini market" which has now spilled onto the road and there must be somebody, a traffic constable or someone, to make people park their vehicles in the parking lot. You can't have half the road occupied by parked vehicles, leading to traffic chaos on this road, which is not narrow or damaged like many other roads of the city", said a person who lives in one of the houses behind the temple in 1100 Quarters itself.
SHO (Traffic) Vishal Malviya said the hindrance in traffic is caused in the area by the hawkers on footpaths and roads. Traffic police have written letters to the officials of Bhopal Municipal Corporation many a times in the past to remove the encroachments in the area. He further said that traffic police deploy special bike-patrol, traffic crane and traffic cops in the area on Monday. Police pickets are deployed at all the major crossings in the area to maintain traffic arrangements.