A Traffic Police survey has reconfirmed Kolkata’s reputation as a ‘‘city of processions’’. Movement of traffic was hit 900 times last year because of processions and blockades, an average of almost three a day.‘‘They say that in the city of Kolkata, the day begins with a slogan and ends with a rally; you wonder what all is hemmed in between the two ends of the day,’’ says the review, Factors Beyond Our Control.It’s a story of old habits dying hard. But like the Kolkata police, the Chambers of Commerce are not willing to take it lying down any more. Reacting to the report, Niranjan Saha, president of the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce, says: ‘‘We are soon going to organise a meeting of top ruling party members, including the CPI(M), and the important Opposition leaders to work for a consensus before it’s too late.’’Saha says that efforts would be made to involve the trade union leaders as well because ‘‘only political will can end the mess in Kolkata’’.Processions, big or small, political or non-political push the city’s roads and its people into chaos each day.The study has identified 15 modes of transport in the city, from rickshaw-pullers, hand and push carts to buses and trams, adding to the mess. ‘‘We must make it clear that these are factors beyond our control. People have the right to organise rallies, processions, bandhs at the drop of a hat and the police can do nothing about them,’’ says a top traffic official, sarcastically.Nazeeb Arif, president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, recounts one of those nasty traffic snarls while being accompanied by one of his old friends from abroad. The visitor said ‘‘the city hasn’t changed’’, recounts Arif. ‘‘What the government doesn’t understand is that the image of the city is suffering,’’ he says.Not that Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who had initiated a move to ban processions and blockades, can be blamed. Bhattacharya himself was caught up in one of those blockades on a railway track while travelling to North Bengal. His move was protested within the Left Front and by the Opposition.The Kolkata police review has also blamed the frequent derailment of trams and the growth in vehicular traffic for the congestions. ‘‘When the number of vehicles grows faster than the human polulation and usable road shrinks every day, it’s unthinkable to achieve better speed,’’ the report says. Officially, traffic speed has gone up by about 3.33 km per hour since 1994. In 1994, the speed in the city was 15 km per hour, last year it was 18.33 km per hour.But motorists don’t agree. On stretches of Park Street, Sealdah, A.J.C. Bose Road and Garihat, it takes about 15 minutes to cover just one crossing. ‘‘By our experience, the vehicular speed is not more than 4 to 5 km per hour in many parts of central Kolkata,’’ a motorist said.
