Despite tall claims of district authorities to have come down heavily on vehicles parked illegally on roads, the situation, on ground, have not changed at all. Commercial vehicles, especially buses, are parked hither and thither in Kaushambi area, considered as one of the posh colonies of Ghaziabad.
The situation is such that the entire area has turned into a ‘temporary bus stand’ with dozens of buses even parked inside the residential colonies of the area. The residents have complained about severe traffic congestion and encroachment in the area.
Some of the locals have also approached the court as well as district authorities in this regard, but the authorities are yet to take any step to address their woes. The plying of buses is very common in this area as it is close to Delhi-Ghaziabad border. Interestingly, there is one ISBT (Inter State Bus Terminus) on each side of the border, but, it has been repeatedly found that the buses are parked in nearby residential colonies to save terminus fees.
It has also been observed that the passengers are also picked from the residential colonies. Shockingly, some of the tour operators have also opened temporary booking kioks at unauthorised places, under the very nose of district administration. It has also resulted in surge of encroachers in the form of local vendors, who have not only illegally occupied the open space of the colonies, but pose as a security threat also.
VK Mittal, a resident of Satpura Apartment in Kaushambi, who has approached the court and other authorities for the same, said because of proximity with bus depots, many of the bus operators are using this area as pick and drop point with the motive to save bus terminus fee and other charges. He also slammed the local police for allowing such activity. ‘About 20 to 60 buses are parked here daily. The issue has been raised with the police and transport officials several times but in vain’, he rued.