This 'sewa' is just self-serving!

Chaos compounded

The first question that seizes the minds of people when they decide to change residence is the location and its viability in terms of space, community, environment and the most crucial thing traffic.

Even if the locality is upmarket and boasts of all basic facilities, the presence of traffic and haphazard parking of vehicles from cycle rickshaws to cars, autorickshaws and even buses is a major concern for everyone. One such locality which is notorious for frequent traffic jams and commuter woes is Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar, Delhi.

In this all Punjabi locality, the population of residents and vehicles seems to have swelled twice  over to what it actually is. And the major reason for this is the traffic gridlock on the roads of GTB Nagar. Autorickshaws, buses, battery rickshaws seem to have edged the poor pedestrian out from the roads. What little space is left has been hogged by the ‘Gramin Sewa’, increasing the traffic woes of the residents.

No doubt Gramin Sewa is available till late night and helps commute even at odd hours of the day, but the traffic jams they create is the worst nightmare of the residents in the area.

While Metro connectivity has mitigated the commute problems of the people in the locality, their problems begin when they emerge from the GTB Nagar Metro station. The premises are overrun by Gramin Sewa vehicles and other public transport, parked bumper to bumper leaving little space for people to even cross the road with ease. It is a regular battle of wits to dodge the incoming traffic and weave one’s way through the haphazardly parked vehicles and ignore the assembled gathering of sundry autowallahs, rickshawallahs and Gramin Sewa drivers aggressively soliciting harried commuters.

“If one takes something like Gramin Sewa, which is ever present and reduces commute problems, there is a downside too. It takes a long time creates to drop one home as the driver refuses to budge till he has ‘over-filled’ his vehicle with people, more than the seats permit. If four people are seated in seats meant for three then two are sitting in front with the driver. They never listen to the traffic police who shout  at them not to overload it,” says Kavita Arora, a resident of the locality expressing her anger over this chaos.

The rain makes the condition worse, with a 15-minute journey taking nearly 40 minutes to complete, thanks to the heavy water-logging after every shower.
Unfortunately, so far nothing has been done to address these very genuine issues besieging the locality. The GTB Nagar residents rue that their complaints have been ignored by a lackadaisical administration. And like everyone else, they continue to live on a hope and prayer.