Traffic goes slow at Charbagh with illegal parking under bridge

Lucknow: Commuters crossing the 400-meter stretch outside Charbagh railway station have a tough time due to

traffic

congestion because of unauthorised parking lots for taxis and auto-rickshaws under the Metro bridge. There are two trisections outside Charbagh railway station of which one connects with Naka Hindola while the other is right outside Ravindralaya. Both the crossings are covered with haphazardly parked buses, taxis and autos. Scores of commercial vehicles choke the stretch which reduces the space on either side and leads to huge traffic congestion throughout the day.

Commuters on this road end up waiting for long hours to get out of the congestion. Traffic cops and marshals can be seen but they don’t help disperse vehicles.

Speaking to TOI, passengers said bus or taxi drivers refuse to budge from the road and continue to block most of it. “I live near Mawaiyya so I have to travel on the Charbagh stretch because my office is near KKC and there is no alternate route for this section. I suffer for more than two hours in traffic congestion on a daily basis,” said Tarun Nihalani.

Another commuter, Pankaj Kumar, said there were two cops present near the turning of Charbagh railway station but none of them came forward to disperse illegally parked vehicles.”

“In case of an emergency, no one can pass this road in minutes. Even an ambulance takes an hour to navigate this stretch. It takes me two hours to cover the stretch from Mawaiyya turning to KKC trisection; I am forced to stop every two minutes,” said Vibhuti Gudnani.