Traffic resumes on Khatipura Road, to run on single flank in phases

Jaipur: Traffic movement on Khatipura Road was restored Friday after traders from Rani Market urged authorities to ease restrictions that disrupted business activity.

The Jaipur traffic police allowed vehicles to ply again between Jhotwara RoB and Khatipura RoB, offering relief to shopkeepers who said sales had dropped sharply since the closure began.

Officials said the earlier plan to permanently shut traffic on the Khatipura-bound flank during the execution of the drainage project by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) has now been dropped. Instead, vehicles will be diverted in phases depending on where JDA workers are laying the rainwater drainage pipeline.

A senior traffic official said the original proposal was to keep the Khatipura-bound side closed until the entire pipeline work was completed. That approach was reconsidered after traders’ representatives met officials on Thursday and pressed for a more flexible arrangement.

“JDA will lay down pipelines in phases, one stretch after the other. Under the new plan, we would stop traffic only on the stretch where the work is underway. Traffic on that stretch will be diverted to the opposite flank. At present, we have diverted a 200-metre stretch right from the Lata Circle crossing,” stated a traffic official.

Even with the revised plan, restrictions remain in place to prevent bottlenecks. The entry and exit from most lanes and bylanes connected to the Khatipura RoB-bound side have been barred. Officials said the move is aimed at reducing congestion and preventing market visitors from parking inside residential lanes.

Traders said the earlier closure hurt commercial activity. “Since Wednesday, our businesses have gone down. This is because no vehicles were allowed to enter the Khatipura Road from the Lata Circle side. We then requested the officials to allow two-way traffic on a single flank — the Jhotwara RoB-bound flank. Now, another major issue is parking. Hopefully, JDA will complete the task as early as possible,” stated S N Agarwal, secretary of Rani Market Khatipura Road Vyapar Sangh.

JDA engineers have set six months as the official deadline for the overall project, though they expect pipeline laying between Jhotwara RoB and Khatipura RoB to be finished within seven to 10 days.