The long rows of autorickshaws illegally parked at Kishan Chowk, a main road connecting Noida to Greater Noida, is leading to traffic snarls in the area and commuters are at the receiving end.
In their bid to grab passengers, at any given time, autorickshaws can be seen parked on the main road, sometimes blocking three lanes of the wide four-lane road. They drive on the wrong side, take a U-turn from wherever they want and blatantly violate traffic rules. This creates a roadblock and endless hassles for the commuters.
The situation is all the more chaotic as this is a main road that connects several high-rises in the area. Commuters going towards Greater Noida West frequently take this road as also those heading towards Noida City Center, Sectors 51 and 71, Greater Noida and Crossing Republik in Ghaziabad.
The worst affected are the office-goers from Greater Noida West who cross the chowk twice a day. Manish Kumar, a resident of Arihant Arden, who commutes daily via the chowk said, “These autorickshaw drivers aren’t scared of anyone, not even traffic police. To improve the situation, the police needs to take strict action.”
The situation worsens during peak traffic hours. Commuters are even taking to social media to express their anger.
Vivek Singh, a resident of Gaur City, said, “Traffic police doesn’t seem to be bothered about the mess autorickshaw drivers are creating here. They openly violate traffic rules. They don’t even bother to park by the side of the road to pick up passengers and just stop wherever they want to.”
“There are already 2 to 3 lakh families living in high rises in the area. A number which will reportedly touch 10 lakh in the coming times. What will happen then?” asked Singh.
With increasing number of vehicles on roads in Noida and Greater Noida, traffic police of GB Nagar had initiated the idea to develop U-turns at all major traffic junctions.
Anil Kumar Jha, superintendent of police (traffic), in a recent conversation with City Spidey, had said that the idea of U-turn is being implemented to ensure smooth flow of traffic and avoid long queues at red lights. The police also aims to convert all major internal roads connecting Noida, Greater Noida, Indirapuram and Delhi one-way lanes.
