Ghaziabad: Nearly two lakh residents from more than 60 societies in Raj Nagar Extension (RNE) depend almost entirely on a single main road, leaving it congested through the day. Vehicles travelling to and from Muradnagar, Modinagar, Meerut, Delhi and Noida funnel through the same stretch. People travelling to Hindon airport also take the same stretch. Hence, a journey that should take 10 minutes regularly stretches to 30-40 minutes, and often much longer, during morning and evening rush hours.“After 8.30am, the stretch from Officer City red light to City Forest chokes up,” a resident of Uninav Heights, Diskha Srivastava, said. “In the evening, after 6.30, the chaos shifts to the Red Carpet–Charms Castle section and the Raj Nagar Residency to River Heights roundabout. Office-goers regularly report late arrivals, and even ambulances frequently get stuck.”Narrow internal roads leading to the main road and high vehicle volumes cause bottlenecks at almost every junction. Poorly planned road infrastructure has worsened the situation. Several U-turns have been created without proper traffic studies or research.U-turns appear to have been added mainly for the convenience of nearby malls. These disrupt the traffic instead of easing movement. Although roads near the U-turns were widened, electricity poles were never relocated. Cars and motorcycles have to squeeze past the poles, leaving the additional width unusable and creating new bottlenecks.Even on Sundays with temporary stalls and people pouring in for the weekly market, the internal roads come to a standstill. A resident, Saket Pathak, said, “We can’t take our cars out for a drive. The accesses to the society garages virtually get blocked.”Then there are the usual suspects—broken stretches, potholes, illegal parking and encroachments—that contribute to the chaotic picture. During monsoon, the roads turn even more hazardous. For the residents, a short trip feels like an ordeal that steals hours from their day.Rajnagar Extension has become one of those parts of Ghaziabad where traffic congestion is no longer an occasional inconvenience—it is a daily burden that affects almost everyone living or travelling through the area.ACP (traffic) Suchita Singh said they are trying to solve the traffic problem. Sixty-three traffic personnel, including 13 traffic sub-inspectors, 24 head constables and 26 constables, have been deployed in the area. “There are three major congestion points: River Heights, Fortune and Ajnara. Traffic police and GDA had done a survey and we have planned to make a U-turn between the societies of River Heights and Ajnara. We are hoping it will reduce the traffic congestion at these two points,” she said
