Residents from Thane and some college students came together on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti to rid Vartaknagar of its traffic mess by managing the flow of vehicles for two hours. They will do so every week at various locations in the city.
Traffic congestion is a major problem afflicting Thane for the past six months and has brought Thanekars together against roads jammed due to potholes and queues at toll plazas. They took to various protests like human chain, 'Blinkers-on', and 'Follow the yellow line' at toll naka campaigns.
On Tuesday, students of Mulund College of Commerce (MCC) and members of Thane Citizens' Foundation (TCF) gathered to manage traffic at Vartakangar.
"It is a very busy junction with no signal. And due to widened roads, pedestrians find it difficult to cross. So on Tuesday, along with mCC students, we stood on both sides of the road with placards in hand," said Kasber Augustine, TCF president.
Aayushi Gandhi, a mass media student from MCC, said, "We helped people cross the road and everyone including motorists were cooperative. Though we were just a handful of people, our efforts were appreciated."
The activists urged the motorists to stop whenever any pedestrian had to cross the road.
"There are vehicles everywhere and no signal here. The activists and students helped us cross the road smoothly," said Anil Patil, a resident of the area.
Anil Mangale of Thane traffic police said that the junction would soon have a 30-second signal for pedestrians. "Thane Municipal Corporation is going to instal the signal in 15 days and people will be able to cross the roads safely and easily," he said.
The residents will repeat the drive near a prestigious school on Pokharan Road.
RIGHT OF WAY
- Traffic congestion is a major problem afflicting Thane for past 6 months.
- Thanekars have held protests like human chain, ‘Follow yellow line’, and ‘Blinkers-on’
