Evening jams in Kopar Khairane as tempos get stuck in underpass, residents question traffic police
Residents say traffic police are missing from key spots while personnel focus on e-challans, leaving commuters stuck in daily jams between 6 pm and 9 pm.
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Navi Mumbai is called a "well-planned city", but residents of Kopar Khairane are struggling with heavy traffic jams every day. Between 6 pm and 9 pm in particular, getting a vehicle out of the Kopar Khairane station area has become a major problem for motorists. Long queues of vehicles build up during this time.
No traffic police are posted near the Kopar Khairane underpass, and some irresponsible tempo drivers are taking advantage of this. During the evening rush, they drive large tempos into the underpass without judging its height and width. Because of this poor judgement, the tempos often get stuck in the underpass itself. Traffic in both directions then comes to a complete halt.
The problem is not limited to the station area. In the evening, heavy queues of vehicles also form on the main road towards Ghansoli, from D-Mart to Sector 15 and Sector 20. The crowd of commuters leaving the railway station and the vehicles going to and from the underpass merge, turning the whole area into a traffic jam. People's valuable time is being wasted in the jam.
Local residents say the traffic regulation cell is not paying full attention to this serious problem. According to them, traffic police personnel are not present at many important junctions or signals. They leave the signals and stand hidden half a kilometre to a kilometre away.
Residents have alleged that, instead of clearing the jams, police personnel remain busy issuing e-challans to drivers. Three to four personnel can be seen standing at one spot with e-challan machines. People say that if these personnel stood directly at the signals or at crowded spots, drivers would fear breaking the rules and jams would not form.
According to local residents, no traffic police are seen in the area until citizens themselves call the traffic control room to complain. Expressing their anger, they said they somehow find a way through the daily crowd to reach home.
The present Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) in the Navi Mumbai Police Commissionerate is known as an experienced officer. Residents of Kopar Khairane are now asking whether the officer is really aware of this daily problem in the area and whether any firm steps will be taken. People's only hope is that the traffic department will pay immediate attention to the matter and free Kopar Khairane from the jams.
