SINGUR:
Essential goods are stuck, truckers are threatening a protest, south Bengal is
virtually cut off - and all of this could have been avoided had police been a
bit more flexible in directing traffic on Durgapur Expressway.
Thanks to Mamata Banerjee's
agitation, two massive bottlenecks have built up on the expressway - at Dankuni
and at Palsit further north in Burdwan. In between is the stretch that is closed
to traffic.
Police are now
diverting traffic from Dankuni to Old Delhi Road, which runs parallel to
Durgapur Expressway on the right. Since the connector is narrow and trucks are
being allowed in small batches, huge traffic snarls are taking place. The
situation is identical up north at Palsit. Thousands of vehicles have been stuck
at the Palla Road flyover since
Sunday.
Police could have
solved the nightmare at both bottlenecks. Some trucks could have been allowed to
take the Dankuni connector to Old Delhi Road. Other vehicles could have been
allowed to proceed down the expressway and finally take a right turn along the
Tarakeswar-Baidyabati Road. At Palsit, a part of the Kolkata-bound traffic could
have taken a turn into Khanpur Road to join Old Delhi
Road.
Police though believe
that this arrangement would have led to massive jams on the comparatively narrow
Old Delhi Road. But on Wednesday, the road was largely empty, which proves it is
not being utilised fully.
Tirnamool's dharna has
actually cut off a 10-km stretch of Durgapur Expressway. But traffic on either
side of the Singur plant is being diverted kilometres ahead of the points, where
the road has been blocked. The Dankuni crossing, for instance, happens to be 20
km from the dharna site, while Palsit is about 45 km from the Tata factory.
The mismanagement has resulted
in a misery for the truckers. Many have run out of food and money and are
desperately trying to get in touch with their owners. "We have been stranded
here since Monday. Last week, we were stuck in Kolkata for the bandh. We have no
idea when we shall be able to drive out of this trouble-prone state," said Subba
Reddy, a truck driver from Andhra Pradesh.
Opposition leader Partha
Chatterjee turned down a truck union request to lift the roadblock. "Durgapur
Expressway is a new road and there have always been alternative roads to keep
traffic moving. It is up to the government to sort it out," he said.
At Writers', senior
bureaucrats and IPS officers got together to review the traffic mess on Durgapur
Expressway but failed to come up with a concrete solution.