Frequent traffic snarls create chaos in Patna's Khetan Market area

PATNA: While heavy traffic is a major issue in most of the localities of the city, the condition is worse in areas east of Gandhi Maidan. It may take more than one hour for a person to cover less than a kilometre of stretch from Pribahore police station to Bari Path near Rajdhani Market.
This stretch has important commercial complexes like Khetan Market and residential areas on both sides of the Sabzibagh-Birla Mandir road.However, such commercially active points further add to the traffic snarl in the area.
Raju Kumar, a resident of Bhanwar Pokhar, said, “One one side is Ashok Rajpath and another side is Bari Path and there are makeshift stalls, illegal carts and vehicles parked all over on both sides of the road. People coming for shopping park their vehicles even on bylanes, making it impossible for other vehicles to move.”
Sharing her experience, Rehana Khatoon of Dariyapur locality close to Khetan Market said, “One day it took me an hour to cross the stretch from the first to the last gate of Khetan Market on a four-wheeler.
Earlier, footpath vendors used to do business on carts, but now they have put a permanent structure outside Khetan Market. In spite of such a horrible situation, neither local police nor the Patna Municipal Corporation takes any concrete action.”
PMC commissioner Animesh Kumar Parashar said various ongoing construction activities on Ashok Rajpath were the main reason for heavy traffic there.
Talking about encroachments and traffic snarls on Birla Mandir-Khetan Market road, Parashar said, “Definitely it is an important issue and PMC will take it on priority and get the encroachment removed. In fact, we have removed the garbage points from the entire stretch and now will focus on anti-encroachments drive.”