Traffic hurdles in Bhimavaram aplenty

Bhimavaram: The aqua hub of West Godavari district, Bhimavaram, is now facing serious traffic problems along with increasing population and vehicles. The congested roads are now filled with vehicular traffic.

Bhimavaram is the main town in the district after the district headquarters, Eluru. The town, which became an aqua hub after the blue revolution in the delta area, with a population of over 2.5 lakhs is gradually growing into a centre for commercial activities. Even though population and vehicular traffic are on the rise, the Municipality officials or the Council did not concentrate on widening the roads.

The narrow lanes have become a hurdle for traffic, which is causing an inconvenience to civilians. Adding to this problem, commercial complexes have a serious shortage of parking space, leading vehicle owners to park their vehicles on the road margins.

As many as 2,69,137 vehicle owners are licensed according to transport officials in Bhimavaram. However, the vehicles are twice the number of license-holders. Out of this, about 13,064 are autos, 1236 school buses, 9908 lorries, 11,129 cars, 2,04,728 motorbikes, 2,833 three-wheelers, 15 car travels, and 5 bus travel vehicles are registered with the transport department.

All these vehicles ply on the narrow lanes of the city regularly. However, the Municipality, which is supposed to announce the zones, has ignored the process. The Municipality has to identify the red, green and orange zones in the town, thereby assigning vending facilities to their respective zones. Traffic blocks are a major issue, as the municipality has not expanded roads in several areas.