Traffic chaos at university, students harried

Amarjot Kaur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 22

With counselling sessions and admissions underway, Panjab University is witnessing traffic chaos and parking problems.

While university departments geared up for students’ counselling in BA and MA courses today, commuters struggled their way from the main gate (Gate No 2) to the Administration Block. It took them 20 minutes approximately to cover the short stretch.

Vehicles parked at tow-away zones at the PU main market, opposite USOL, and near the Administration Block blew the law and order situation out of proportion. A majority of people parked their vehicles in a beeline along the road near the PU Guest House, the Admin Block and other departments, allowing only one line of outgoing/incoming vehicles to pass on a two-way road.

A year ago in May, the Syndicate had decided to make the PU a vehicle-free zone. However, the situation has worsened.

A student, Karanveer, who had come to the counselling session for the three-year LLB course, said: “I had to park my car a kilometre away in some other department’s parking because there was no parking space here. I even got late by half an hour.”

Recounting a similar situation, another student Bandhini Nanda said: “It is even worse when one has to go to hostels because vehicles block the way from Ankur School and the only route left is the one from the Administration Block.”

Stating that the traffic congestion will continue to trouble commuters during the admission season, Chief Security Officer Prof Ashwani Koul said: “Last year, we had made a map to look into the vehicle-free policy. The system of pinpointing a few rules and following them will not be possible. We will be recruiting new persons, outsourcing them, in a few days as the tender has to be floated. The vehicles can only be towed by the police, but they will challan them too, which we can’t allow in the university.” He said the PU had around 200 affiliated colleges and it was difficult to manage traffic as people are thronging the varsity in large numbers.