The traffic signal on Hill Cart Road in front of Siliguri Junction has just turned green. Vehicles that were waiting have started moving with honking horns. But before they could go far, all the cars got stuck again. Why? A passenger Volvo from a neighbouring state is blocking the road.
On Rishi Aurobindo Road in the Bidhan Market area, goods-carrying vehicles are parked across the road for unloading cargo. This leads to daily suffering. Siliguri Police has taken to the streets to resolve this chronic traffic congestion in Siliguri. In a few days of operation, 16 buses from different states have been fined.
Siliguri DCP (Traffic) Kazi Shamsuddin Ahmed says, "Buses were being parked on the roads regularly. Loading and unloading of goods was going on dangerously right on the roads. Bus owners and drivers have been warned. Several drivers have been fined. Stricter measures will be taken in the coming days." Along with imposing fines, police have also confiscated several goods from these buses. After shared auto-rickshaws, passenger buses from neighbouring states are considered one of the main causes of traffic congestion in Siliguri. Hundreds of buses enter Siliguri daily from the adjoining states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and the northeastern border states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, and Mizoram.
They return to their respective states in the evening with passengers. These buses do not have any designated stands. Some park their vehicles on Hill Cart Road adjacent to Siliguri Junction to pick up passengers, while others have created illegal stands at Darjeeling More. Behind these illegal stands are politically backed miscreants. There are allegations that businesses worth lakhs of rupees operate around these illegal stands. There are allegations that such buses are parked on service roads beside main roads in areas like Siliguri Junction, Mallaguri, and Champasari. From evening onwards, buses from other states are parked by occupying the road next to a petrol pump in the Siliguri Junction area.
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Nirmalya Haldar, a resident of the main city, says, "Although this kind of tendency has been going on for a long time, no action was taken until now. It seems the police have finally woken up. However, it would be unfortunate if the same situation arises again after a few days." Not only passenger buses from other states, but school buses also trouble daily commuters. There are 53 private schools in the commissionerate area. The schools operate 718 buses and numerous vans throughout the day. Recently, the commissionerate has warned school bus owners and drivers. Instructions have also been given not to park school buses randomly.
