Calcutta overtakes Bengaluru to become India’s most traffic congested city

Join Date: Jan 2021

Location: New Delhi

Posts: 155

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There! There! Who touched my earthy nerve!

I person had discussions astir Kolkata's roadworthy conditions successful aggregate societal forums wherever radical person fiercely defended our beloved metropolis of joyousness to the bits.

Fact is that the roads maketh Calcutta the City of Killjoy, really. (Okay residents, termination maine if you will!) And this is contempt the fact, that different surviving conditions are truthful overmuch amended and adjacent competitory - astute and modern infrastructure, media and amusement industry, thoroughfare food, restaurants, a much pliant climate, greenery, mostly affable people, and a affluent civilization and heritage.

Here is my instrumentality connected the woes:

Infrastructure failures

1. The metropolis has lone astir 6 percent of roads, compared to 15-20 percent successful cities similar Delhi, Bangalore, Bombay.
2. The roadworthy aboveground is pathetic. I person forgotten what the close lane/fast lane should consciousness like, successful my past 4 years of surviving successful Kolkata. The full Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, which is expected to beryllium the 32-km main road, has humped interspersed patches of astir 5 feet successful magnitude connected the close side. You tin ne'er instrumentality the close lane to safely overtake oregon accelerate. I would ever enactment person to the postulation successful mid-lane. Imagine this is expected to tally from 1 extremity of the metropolis to the other.
3. Flyovers are highly constrictive with nary run-offs connected the left, dissimilar successful Delhi/Bangalore. Even successful the longest flyover similar the 4-lane "Maa Flyover." The bikers are coming onto car drivers, much truthful during unreserved hours. If determination is simply a breakdown, causes postulation snarls immediately.
4. Unplanned / Impermanent and fragile operation - Alright, admitted that Calcutta receives a batch much rainfall than galore different places. However, astir roadworthy operation that happens successful 1 twelvemonth goes threadbare the adjacent twelvemonth (Belgharia Expressway, Jessore Road which is besides the connecting road to North Bengal). Mind you this is not the enactment of the authorities nationalist works, but besides the benignant of contracting that NHAI is doing. The contractors get the aforesaid declaration twelvemonth connected twelvemonth to physique the aforesaid roads. In presumption of nationalist works, the state's readying is besides not great. They archetypal physique a roadworthy past excavation it up to laic h2o oregon state oregon energy oregon telephone lines.
   

Traffic absorption failures -
The constabulary successful this report, has conveniently bypassed their ain failures and deficiency foresight.

1. Firstly, determination are 3 large kinds of constabulary (not an exhaustive type) - Kolkata Traffic Police oregon KTP, Bidhan Nagar City Police oregon BNCP, West Bengal Traffic Police oregon WBTP. Each person their ain Tughalqi rules, that support ever-changing.
2. For example, wrong a abbreviated region you whitethorn spot antithetic velocity bounds signages. How is simply a operator perpetually expected to beryllium mindful of often changing velocity limits?
3. Unmarked speed-breakers, faded stop-lines are the bid of the day. And yet you volition beryllium fined for not adhering to stop-lines.
4. Traffic signals are poorly timed. In Delhi, I person seen that erstwhile the airy goes from greenish to yellow, determination volition beryllium a 5-count timer, earlier it goes to red. It helps cars to brake smoothly. In Kolkata, postulation lights going from greenish to yellowish to reddish whitethorn hap successful a second, sometimes adjacent skipping the yellowish airy altogether. In main areas similar Kankurgachi / Phool Bagan, determination are signals connected circles. So, archetypal you hold to get a close awesome and past instrumentality the close crook and look a reddish awesome to spell straight.
5. And arsenic if this was not enough, a communal signifier of WBTP and BNCP (e.g. Haldiram, Birati, Airport crossings) is to permission the awesome greenish and abruptly physically leap infront of the accelerated lane postulation to halt them to walk pedestrians. I person had crisp conversations with the constabulary connected galore occasions, was adjacent fined for it.
6. As soon arsenic you participate West Bengal from either Jharkhand broadside oregon the Odisha side, you volition cognize from the telltale "random barricade policing" that you person arrived. BNCP and WBTP usage barricades each the clip to dilatory down traffic. So not lone are you mindful of the potholes, ditches, undulations, but besides of having to veer near oregon close abruptly oregon halt altogether owing to the barricades abruptly emerging. Plus they instal barricades connected NHs.
7. Height of postulation lights is not standardised / precocious enough. So they are not disposable from a region galore a times. A precocious conveyance infront of you, volition origin unsighted spots.
8. There is simply a conception of civic-police = quickly-trained, and sometimes excessively tiny for their boots (visually), not seemingly precise sharp. I americium not definite however they are qualified, but it was initially started arsenic providing employment to section boys and girls. They had a goonish authorization owing to the caller uniforms that they received. But of people with the medication coming up with newer rules, their powers person been dressed down a bit.
   

Now for immoderate indicative numbers:

1. My location to workplace is 18 kms - would instrumentality maine a minimum of 1hr each way. Fuel ratio successful Polo would timepiece adjacent 7.8 kmpl.
2. An alternate way is 25 kms (through the Maa Flyover) - takes 45 minutes earlier unreserved hour, evening postulation makes it 1.5 hrs, substance ratio 9-11 kmpl.
3. A 3rd way that uses a premix of NHAI and tolls is 42 kms, had go my preferred way successful 2023 with substance ratio adjacent going up to 16 kmpl, clip taken 1 hr 15 minutes tops. Despite warnings that 1 clog constituent could beryllium Santragachi that If 1 happens to get stuck here, it could beryllium stuck for adjacent 2 hrs. But successful larger strategy of probability, I person utilized this route. At present, determination is operation successful this area, truthful radical are avoiding it connected mean days.
   

Impact of each this -

1. High driving stress. I don't cognize however to benchmark this. But whitethorn suffice to accidental that I person stopped driving retired to de-stress similar I utilized to portion successful the NCR.
   
2. Unnecessary longer drives - For an 8 hr bureau job, I person sometimes driven for 4 hours which should not instrumentality much than 1.5 hrs.
   
3. High fatigue, that results from the thrust not from the work/job. Couple this with atrocious backaches, sciatica flare-ups, genu symptom from clutch over-use.
   
4. High anxiousness stemming from jam-anxiety - we are ever checking maps earlier going retired oregon during driving arsenic if our beingness depends connected it.
   
5. Low substance efficiencies - ideate a 42 km NH agelong allowing you to bash the aforesaid timing arsenic an 18 km in-city road.
   
6. High car deterioration & teardrop - a full caller evidence-based reporting needs to beryllium done connected on this.
7. Other trivias specified arsenic brawls betwixt antithetic kinds of drivers specified 2w, 3w, 4w etc.

Are you bushed adjacent speechmaking this? We are surviving it. (With of people immoderate blessed denials too).

Calcutta has overmuch imaginable and galore things to do, it is bittersweet that roads person go specified a disincentive.

Last edited by DogNDamsel12 : 13th January 2025 astatine 15:50.