The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) will soon construct permanent traffic islands at Ganeshguri after the plan of redesigning the junction was approved by the authorities recently. The GMC authorities discussed constructing permanent traffic islands in the area to enhance pedestrian safety. A similar plan is also to be implemented in Paltan Bazar, but because of the upcoming foot overbridge near Paltan Bazar Police Station the planners are having a tough time to design the area to create traffic islands for the ease of the pedestrians.
A source in GMC said, “The team of the town and country planning department working to redesign the entire stretch of Paltan Bazar so that the area becomes pedestrian friendly is facing difficulties to design because of the foot overbridge (FOB).”
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The source said that the FOB seems unplanned as the point where it is being constructed is just near the Paltan Bazar railway station entry. “Getting up the FOB carrying huge luggage will be a challenging exercise for many, and after getting down the passengers may have to climb up another inside the railway station,” said the source adding that the FOB should have been planned with the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) as they are planning to redevelop the Paltan Bazar part of the railway station.
A source in the NFR told GPlus that no discussions were held by any state authority regarding the FOB at Paltan Bazar.
A source in the town and country planning department said that in Paltan Bazar the volume of pedestrians is more than vehicles so the area requires proper designing. “The FOB at Paltan Bazar is not only unplanned, but is eating up a lot of road space reducing the width of the road,” said the source adding that planning the traffic islands and redesigning the entire stretch of Paltan Bazar has become very challenging.
Regarding the unplanned nature of the FOB, a source in PWD said, “The FOB was decided after a lot of requests from the traffic police as the point where the it is being constructed always witnesses traffic jam because of pedestrians crossing the road,” adding that the FOB will be a success in the future.
It needs to be mentioned that Guwahati railway station was identified for redevelopment under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme and for which consultancy work is in progress for preparation of master plan and façade of the station. Second entry from Paltan Bazar side was planned for which land of ASTC bus stand is to be taken over. An MoU with the state government was accordingly signed. Railway land measuring 27844 Sqm. at Jalukbari will be handed over to ASTC after removal of encroachments in exchange of ASTC land at Paltan Bazar measuring 6683 Sqm. In addition to exchange of land, Railway has paid ₹5.92 crore to ASTC. Currently, out of 31 court cases at Jalukbari around 27 are pending. In four cases district court has ruled in favour of Railway.