The city of Ranchi is locked in a relentless battle against traffic gridlock, with district authorities' eviction drives proving insufficient to ensure smooth vehicular movement. The persistent congestion has escalated beyond peak hours into a full-blown daily civic emergency, primarily fueled by rampant indisciplined parking.
Key Corridors Brought to a Standstill
Major arteries across the state capital are witnessing severe bottlenecks. Purulia Road, Siramtoli, the Namkum stretch, Kanke, Lalpur, and Main Road are among the worst affected, with conditions deteriorating particularly during morning and afternoon hours near schools and coaching centres. Long queues of vehicles parked haphazardly along carriageways drastically reduce effective road width, crippling traffic flow and creating significant safety hazards for schoolchildren and pedestrians.
Traffic officials confirm the problem is no longer confined to rush hours. Traffic SP Rakesh Kumar pinpointed the heart of the issue, stating that the core problem stems from habitual roadside parking. He emphasized that there is often sufficient space inside school premises and in authorised parking lots, but motorists ignore them. "Unnecessary parking leads to traffic blockages. We hold meetings with school authorities and request them to ensure parking inside their premises. Some comply, but because many do not, the congestion becomes severe," Kumar explained.
Enforcement Overdrive Meets Public Apathy
On the enforcement front, the department is issuing over 250 manual challans a day, alongside routine towing drives. Vehicles are towed regularly from offending spots. However, SP Kumar highlighted a more profound challenge: "The bigger challenge is people’s behaviour. Unless motorists follow basic discipline, the jam issue will remain."
Adding to the chaos, unauthorised commercial activity also eats into road space. Just this past Monday, enforcement teams of the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) carried out eviction drives on Circular Road and its bylanes to clear makeshift shops that cause jams and unwanted gatherings.
Residents' Lives Disrupted, More Parking Zones Planned
For Ranchi's residents, the crisis is now a disruptive daily reality. The situation in residential areas mirrors that of main roads. Shalini Gupta, a homemaker from Lalpur, shared her ordeal: "Vehicles are often parked right in front of our gate, completely blocking the entrance. Some days we can’t even take our own car out. We’ve complained multiple times, but nothing changes."
In response to the growing crisis, officials confirmed that three to four additional parking zones are in the pipeline. These will supplement the existing 31 RMC-operated authorised parking areas currently functioning in the city. However, authorities stress that infrastructure expansion alone is not a silver bullet. They insist that strict enforcement and public cooperation must go hand in hand to decongest critical choke points, especially during peak hours.
Civic officials have identified the immediate priority: strict enforcement near educational institutions, commercial pockets, and narrow stretches where illegal parking continues defiantly despite repeated warnings. The clear message from the administration is that unless motorists stop treating public roads as personal parking spots, Ranchi's traffic nightmare is far from over.
