Rakhi rush flops City traffic cops’ social media drive

MEERUT: Despite additional traffic cops being deployed to manage the Raksha Bandhan rush, the city witnessed massive traffic snarls on Saturday. The authorities tried to manage traffic through social media but the Raksha Bandhan rush — which continued on Sunday — crippled traffic on NH-58. Meerut Traffic Police’s Facebook and Twitter handles gave traffic advisories to the public throughout the day.
“We are trying our level best that no traffic jams happen today (Sunday), but, there are so many people using NH-58 that the snarls are unavoidable. Though we expected less rush today but the situation seems to be the same as yesterday,” said SP (traffic) P K Tiwari.
Traffic cops were deployed on all the main crossings in the city throughout the day, and additionally traffic advisories on social media were circulated. “People heading to Delhi and Ghaziabad should use Bijli Bamba Bypass, Hapur Road and Kharkhauda instead of NH-58, which has been under pressure due to Raksha Bandhan,” said a tweet from the Meerut traffic police.
The traffic police had opened its social media accounts in July, to help the citizens with information on route diversions and traffic updates.
But were these social media advisories really helpful?
Gaurav Sharma, a city resident who got stuck in the traffic jam for X hours, said: “How is anyone supposed to know that Meerut traffic police has become active on social media. The traffic cops should have diverted the routes completely but I hardly found any officer before NH-58. What is the point of deploying additional personnel within the city when the traffic snarls are being reported from areas that are on the route to Delhi.”