6Ghaziabad, Wednesday, December 9, 2009 plusCity

After year-long dis-cussions, deconges-tion of the busiest

Mohan Nagar ''chauraha''has begun. If things move atthe current pace, one couldsee jam-free traffic at thisbusiest central place of thecity. It might be a dreamcome true for the people tobe able to cross smoothlyfrom the overcrowded 'chau-raha', where there is alwaystraffic jam from morningtill evening. The city admin-istration had tried severaltimes to decongest the'chauraha', but each time ithad failed. So this is thefirst time serious businessis going on at the entirestretch of this route.

Action takenFrom November 12, the

city administration haddiverted routine trafficfrom Mohan Nagar 'chau-raha' to Karheda Cut andLink Road in order toimplement some of itsplans on the route. Thustraffic has been divertedfrom Hindon Air Force andKaran Gate Police Chowki,as otherwise it might affectthe work on broadening theroad at various sites.

Giving priority to this

much-awaited project, DMof the city visited the sitesrecently. The road widen-ing project has been get-ting delayed due to theongoing undergroundwork on the same route.B u t i t h a s r e c e i v e dmomentum with the closeattention being paid bysenior officials. GDA hasasked them to fill the dug-up roads. Illegal cuts alsowould be closed as soon aspossible.

Proposed plansSince this prime location

of the city is being used as

the main adjoining point ofthe National Highway, amakeover plan is coming

up on the Mohan Nagar'chauraha'. Under the pro-posed plan, six major workswill be taken up at the site.

One, high mask lightswould be put up at the'chauraha'. Railing wouldbe erected after the instal-lation of full-fledged plat-forms. Zebra crossingswould be marked out forpedestrians. In order toavoid water-logging, thelevel of roads would be lift-ed after completion of theroad widening project.Drainage system would beimproved. Ateam would beconstituted to keep a watchon the smooth functioningof the traffic system.

A New Year giftRoad widening as well as

electricity work betweenGyani Border and MohanNagar i s a l r eady inprogress. Judging by thepace at which GDAis goingahead with the work onthis route, commuters canhope that it will be com-

pleted soon and it seemsthat there will be no traf-fic jam from Gyani borderto Mohan Nagar by theend of this month.

Referring to this ongoingwork, GDA chief engineerAnil Garg said, "Since ille-gal parking of trucks on thisroute caused traffic chaos,we have taken a decisionto widen the road. Thismight help us in the comingCommonwealth Games aswell. If all goes well, we canexpect this eight-lane roadas a New Year gift."

Simultaneously, a majorbeautification work hasbegun at the bus iestMohan Nagar 'chauraha'at a cost of Rs 30 lakh.Senior MCG engineer AKSingh, thus elaborated theplans, "Traffic sign boards,reflector, yellow patti,zebra crossing and cat's-eye would come up on thetroubled Mohan Nagar'chauraha' within the nexttwo months."

—MANOJ SINHA

Decongestion of MohanNagar 'chauraha' begins

Judging by the pace atwhich GDA is going aheadwith the work, commuters

can hope that it will be completedsoon and there will be no trafficjam from Gyani border to MohanNagar by the end of this month.

“

Aproposal to beautify oneof the largest vegetablemarkets of the state,

s i tuated on L ink RoadSahibabad, was sent by GDAto the State Government inAugust. It was also proposedto instal l an e lectronic'Dharmkanta' in the market.The proposal was made keep-ing in view the interests ofover 1,300 shopkeepers and'araties ' of Sabji MandiSahibabad. Construction ofstand post, drainage and itsdisposal, construction of roadsand change of distorted drink-ing water pipelines were alsoproposed. The same was putup before the Mandi Parishadby the Mandi secretary.

Some of the proposals wereapproved by the Mandi

Parishad. Soon after gettingthe green signal, constructionof way-bridge began at themain gate of Navin PhalAvam Sab j i Mand i o fSahibabad. But this wasopposed by the traders andshopkeepers. And recentlythey took out a 'morcha'

protesting against the instal-lation of 'Dharamkanta" atthe main gate of the market.

"Installation of the electron-ic 'Dharamkanta' at the maingate will cause great difficul-ties to the customers, as itwould badly affect the move-ment of hundreds of trucks,

tempos and autos .Moreover, it would lead totraffic chaos at the entranceof the market." Ved PrakashSharma and Haji Babu,who participated in theprotest rally, said.

"Business worth crores ofrupees is transacted heredaily. We are generatingmaximum revenue despiteinconveniences like chokedsewers and other civic prob-lems. In fact, sanitation isour prime concern here, butnothing has been done sofar," Ajay Chaudhry, a sen-ior member of the SabjiMandi Association, said.

"We are facing shortage ofdrinking water, bad roadsand insecurity. Only twohand-pumps are opera-tional. Street lights aredamaged due to impropermaintenance," he added.

Later, the shopkeepers weare assured by the CityMagistrate that thingswould be sorted out soon.

Traders resent installation of electronic 'Dharmkanta'

Serious business going on for a jam-free chauraha.