Private gates hinder traffic flow on Kapurthala roads

On Link Road, which joins the Jalandhar-Kapurthala highway to the Vasant Vihar area of Kapurthala, a locked gate is the cause of daily traffic snarl-ups, much to the chagrin of commuters. The gate installed by an area resident exhibits a sense of entitlement.

Vasant Vihar is just one of the many areas that bear the malaise of the locked gates — a relatively new phenomenon brought upon hapless residents by (usually rich) people, who close public roads and alleys.

Though a much smaller town as compared to Jalandhar, a network of new colonies and rampant urbanisation have brought along a set of problems to a large number of new areas in Kapurthala. To avoid traffic movement so that their peace is not disturbed, residents install gates and lock them — some of these even during the day time — causing inconvenience to the commuters.

The problem is prevalent in localities like Link Road-Vasant Vihar, Gopal Park, Germany Dass Park, Friends Colony to Devi Talab Road, Ajit Nagar, New Model Town, Sunder Nagar, Ajit Avenue and other areas. Gaurav, an entrepreneur and an area resident, who is harried by the locked gate on the Link Road, says, “The road is the key link between the highway and the Vasant Vihar area. The gate is locked even at noon, leaving a little opening for pedestrians to pass through. Due to the rush of parents at the nearby MGN School in the morning and afternoon, the area witnesses traffic jam every day. A large number of vehicles gather, but there is no outlet. A certain resident has installed the gate and locked it up without deploying a watchman, who could open the gate in case of need. Of the three main streets in the Vasant Vihar area, two remain locked all the time and no one bothers to open the gates even during the rush hour. Residents like me have to take a 2-km detour to reach their destination even if it is at a stone’s throw. This illegal encroachment goes unchecked.”

Some big gates don’t even allow pedestrians or cyclists to pass through. Gurmukh Singh, a Kapurthala resident, says, “The privileged residents don’t take the trouble to clean streets or get damaged roads repaired, but they have the money to get the gates installed. I have lost the count of complaints I have made.”

Punjab