Katargam residents on war-path

Traffic Assistant Commissioner P C J Rathod goes a step further to state that if royalty evasion and illegal carting were the main issues, the department of geology and mining had to do something about it.

The Katargam police, on the other hand, feel its the traffic police’s duty to implement its directive.

Another official of the police station went so far as to say that the apathy towards implementing directives extended to those involving one-way streets and heavy vehicles as well.

The locals, expectedly, are an angry lot today. Says Katargam councillor Navinbhai Vaghela, “These trucks are plying without interference from the police, despite the ban. "With the schools scheduled to reopen soon, students will be exposed to high risks, as the traffic policemen are either not present at the sites or do not bother about the menace.”

Dineshbhai Patel, whose house adjoins the main road, alleges, “I don’t think the trucks will stop plying by this road until we burn down a few trucks. The police are not doing anything about it because there is a lot of money at stake.”

Incidentally, heavy vehicles were banned on the road after a truck rammed into a cyclist in the predominantly residential area. An infuriated mob also set the truck on fire and beat up the driver before the police intervened.

According to Chhanabhai Vanjhara, an office-bearer of the Varachha Road Local Truck Owners Association — the umbrella organisation of a large number of sand-carters — “Sand-truckers working in the Phulpada-Ashwini Kumar area have to use the road as it is the easiest way to enter the city. Though there are other routes, this is the most convenient.”

According to sources, however, it was the huge profits in the business that led truckers to persist in using the road, while managing to keep the traffic police happy by "spending" some money.