Commuters caught in Chowrasta chokehold

Kolkata: The ongoing sewerage work near Behala Chowrasta crossing, a KMC project to stop rainwater from accumulating inside the Behala Industrial Estate area, has slowed down traffic movement on three key roads — Diamond Harbour Road, Biren Roy Road and Raja Rammohan Roy Road. It has also reportedly increased commute time by 10 to 20 minutes.According to KMC and DH Road Traffic guard, the Biren Roy Road has been dug up metres from the Chowrasta station right on the middle of the road, barely leaving just one flank open for traffic. The police are thus forced to allow movement towards any one direction at a time.Traffic cops say the slow traffic issue is now no longer limited to only office hours. This is also true for the evening, with Sunday evening witnessing one of the worst jams in the past week.In the morning, the tail on Biren Roy Road goes back close to the Bidya Bharati School (and most often near Parispara). Similarly, the tail on DH Road goes all the way back to Janakalyan crossing. “With bus and auto stands around, it is taking two traffic cycles to negotiate this small stretch,” said a cop.It is in the evening when traffic is trying to enter Biren Roy Road from DH Road that the problem magnifies. The traffic jam on DH Road goes all the way back to over 400 metres and close to Blind School since vehicles closer to the DH Road-Biren Roy Road crossing cannot turn right.This happens when cops stop movement from Chowrasta towards Biren Roy Road to allow reverse traffic to move.With vehicles stuck at the key crossing, those heading towards or out of the Rammohan Roy Road remain stuck — this being the only key link to Tollygunge (the other, Motilal Gupta Road, is shut to traffic due to an ongoing civic work). Such has been the complaints on delays that cops brought in multiple changes in commuter movement in the area from Monday evening. “We have created a small road channel on the extreme left in order to accommodate autos and two-wheelers,” said an officer from DH Road guard. Cops are also allowing autos to use the bylanes of Janakalyan. In addition, the entire traffic system in the area is now running on auto mode, said police. To add to the pain, at least four auto routes have started avoiding Chowrasta. “Most of them are claiming to come only up to Bakulta on Biren Roy Road or to Sakherbazar on DH Road,” said Sovan Tarafdar, a resident of Sarsuna.“Now, Chowrasta is a nightmare. If you stay on the main road, it’s highly likely that you will be spending 10-15 minutes to just cross Chowrasta. While returning, this wait sometimes touches 15-20 additional minutes,” said Tathagata Mukherjee, an IT engineer from Green Field City.Sinjini Sen, a student, said auto commuters have also been hit. “Most autos plying between Dakghar and Chowrasta avoid coming to the crossing. I am forced to take a bus that is taking longer to negotiate the jam,” said Sen. Saptarshi Chowdhury, a digital advertising expert, who travels to New Town daily, said: “I walk down from Natunpara as nothing moves on this stretch.”