Hindrance & Hazards Mess Up the Traffic!

There is any number of encroachments of the road space. And it happens in many ways. In the developing and under developed countries encroachment of road space is a major hindrance for safe passing of vehicles. By occupying the space meant for movement of traffic the obstruct the free movement of traffic, slow down the traffic flow, often cause traffic jams and most of the time are responsible for accidents to occur on busy streets and roads.

Some of the encroachments may be temporary; but most others are permanent in nature. They are present day after day and pose great danger to the road users including the pedestrians. The garbage and garbage contains very often occupy the most important portions of the road, especially in the corner where vehicle turn and the maneuverability of vehicle is difficult. Added to it is the discarded building materials that take away more crucial parts of the road.

The telephone and cable trench boxes jut out in the most awkward of places and take away key places along with the electricity transformers, which are usually big and scary for road users. Added to this small private temples and pawn shops occupy some portions of the road. Tea shops,car and two wheeler mechanic shops and mobile laundry units are another group of encroachers.

Vegetable vendors and Flower vendors are yet another group of people who add to the confusion on the by rightfully or wrongfully claiming their piece of road space at selective places.The seasonal vendors who unload their truck load of perishable stocks and display them under the trees in all parts of the city or town are another group of encroachers. They may be dealing with only fruits that are seasonal. But then we have fruits available round the year and so different groups of people engaged in selling different types of fruits are found to engage in busy trade on the pavements, on the sides of the road preferable under well grown trees wherever some shades are available and on the side roads too.

And without regular customer supports all this cannot simply last. And as people stop their cycles, cars, motorcycles to do the shopping on road, it helps them to buy thing instantly and from the seats of their vehicles. And the freedom that one enjoys doing this kind of purchases is amazing. One need not find a parking space, pay for the parking, or walk to and from the parking lot. Not to mention the time saved.

Even pleasantries are exchanged between regular customers and vendors. It is habitual; it is welcome. Let not any other road user frown at this. It is an economic activity. The shop owners and vendor will ensure that one makes a quick slip from the spot, should he or she venture to make them see reason and ask of them to refrain from encroachingthe pubic road, at public’s inconvenience and more so without paying the road tax. Or any other tax for that matter.

Whatever has happened to virtues that humanity boasts off? If one doesn’t approve the way the vendors handle their imperatives there will be no courtesy and no kind gesture; leave alone the vulgarity that may explode. Should one try to ask of them to see reason one needs to be thick skinned and back off before missiles are hurled.

To add to the pell-mell there are tricycle borne ice cream vendors, vendors of boiled and fried nuts who have no parking inhibitions and just pull up their carts and carriages just about anywhere on the road for dispensing their products to make instant cash.

Perhaps, to add to the variety and confusion there are also furniture and handicraft shops put up by people supposedly from the weaker sections of the society and from other distant regions.In a socialistic fabric people are really appreciative of others exigencies even at their own inconvenience

The pavements are encroached pushing the pedestrian on to the road and consequently the road space is usurped. And not stopping with the encroachment of payments and roads, in some pavement shopkeepers display their wares like toys on the roof of cars parked on the road. Perhaps we can call it a 3-Tier encroachment. Added to this are the road side restaurants and dealers of scraps who collect huge stocks and sort them on the road unmindful of public inconvenience. All these encroachments virtually choke the roads and completely hamper traffic flow.

Then we have trees right in centre of the roads. When roads are widened the trees on the side need to be removed. But the environment activists, who raise a hue and cry when trees are felled, have managed to refrain authorities from cutting down the trees. And finally there arises a situation where the roads widening cannot be in place as envisaged. And after sometime most of the trees surrounded by tar roads also perish. Till such time the trees exist the vendors occupy the place available around the tree for selling coconuts, water melons and sugarcane juices.And some others park their vehicles too.

There are junked cars and trucks abandoned on the roadsides. They serve no purpose but consume valuable public space causing untold strain on infrastructure.

There are other temporary but regular encroachment when roads are closed and streets are blocked when funeral proceedings are underway. Festivals also create conditions for temporary encroachments. Similarly political meetings and melas add to encroachments

And then there are autos parked near bus stops and other spots for picking up trips. They hold up traffic acting as temporary encroachment blocking roads

Under such conditions where regulation has failed there is every chance that accidents can happen. Whether it is a pedestrian, or a vendor, or a motorist or a policeman all of them will end up on the losing side. Encroachments choke traffic and when there is no free flow of traffic the situation is prone to accident.

Either the encroachments should be totally removed or the traffic should be diverted. Both cannot coexist.