Errant auto-rickshaw drivers, encroachment by street vendors put safe vehicular traffic at stake!

LOKMAT NEWS NETWORK

Nashik, Jan 19

Shalimar is the main market of the city, the main stop of Citilinc buses heading toward all major parts of the city. Two buses ply every five minutes from here. Also, the main entrance to the Divisional Referral Hospital is here and has a stand for taxis and auto-rickshaws. However, for the past two decades, Shalimar Square has got a reputation for being the place where errant auto-rickshaw drivers haphazardly park their vehicles to get the passengers, and where street vendors have encroached upon the road to a notable extent. There is chaos here and there is not a single day that one can see smooth vehicular traffic here.

The issue of encroachment is getting grave. The entire square is crowded with citizens visiting the main markets in the old city and the indisciplined auto-rickshaw drivers. Since the end of the Covid crisis, street vendors have started sitting on the pavements. There is a lot of dissatisfaction among citizens and there is a possibility of someone losing their life in an accident because of the chaos. Yet the police system remains inactive.

Shalimar Square adjacent to the market is the largest among other squares, but it has started to suffer due to these increasing encroachments. Shalimar is the busiest intersection from 9 am to 9 pm as it is adjacent to the markets on Tilak Path and at Nehru Garden along with the Main Road. The route to Main Road, Nashik Road, CBS, and MG Road passes from this square. Due to the flow of citizens coming from different parts of the city to buy various types of goods and equipment, this square is always crowded. There is a Referral Service Hospital of Nashik Division in the square itself. Patients and their relatives are constantly coming here. Ambulances also get stuck at the entrance of this hospital due to overcrowding by vendors. On top of it, citizens face inconvenience as the auto-rickshaws are parked on all sides and the encroachment of unauthorised vendors covers the entire road.

There are about four to five bus stops in the square to go to Nashik Road Railway Station, Bhagur, Upnagar, and other suburbs. All those bus stops as well as the entire square can be seen flooded with errant auto-rickshaws. Due to this, there is no standing space for city buses as well as passengers. As the rickshaws come from the opposite side, the vehicles get stuck all the time. Police personnel working in this area helplessly watch the chaos. Wonder who will discipline the vehicular traffic at the Shalimar square.

Info

Indiscipline, lack of planning

The roads leading to Shalimar from six sides are lined with auto-rickshaws and most of the time the auto-rickshaws occupy more than half of the road. Unauthorised retailers, fruit sellers, and juice sellers with hand carts are adding to the traffic jam. Because handcarts are parked at places where customers are usually seen, two-wheelers and four-wheelers are facing problems and there is a traffic jam for at least 10 to 12 hours a day.

Info

Since the end of the Covid crisis, the encroachment of street vendors has increased and reached the police post at Shalimar, but the police administration and municipal administration are not taking firm action. Only during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Nashik, on January 12, all the encroachments on the roads were removed. However, within a week, encroachment and the mess is back.