Nagpur: Sitabuldi — the beating commercial heart of Nagpur — has been reduced to a lawless, chaotic mess, thanks to the complete failure of authorities to control the unruly menace of autorickshaws and haphazard traffic. The so-called ‘smart city’ status of Nagpur crumbles within minutes of stepping into the Variety Square to Jhansi Rani Square stretch, where traffic rules exist only on paper and civic order is a forgotten dream.
From dawn to dusk, this barely half-kilometre stretch is a living, breathing example of administrative helplessness and public inconvenience. Autorickshaws, their drivers brazen and unbothered, occupy every possible inch of the road. They park, block traffic, and wait endlessly for enough passengers to make their illegal rides worthwhile — all while traffic comes to a grinding halt around them.
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Add to this the city buses, sometimes two or three at once, all using the same lane. Then throw in a mix of cars, two-wheelers navigating through gaps, and pedestrians criss-crossing from every direction, some at zebra crossings, and many not. Standing at Variety Square for even ten minutes offers a live reel of this disorder. There is honking, shouting, sudden braking, and frequent near misses.
And what are the authorities doing? Nothing. The traffic cops? Nowhere to be seen. The civic body? Completely indifferent. The result? Sitabuldi, a prime area known for its bustling markets, metro stations, and thousands of daily footfalls, has turned into a commuter’s nightmare.
The congestion isn’t accidental. It’s manufactured — by autorickshaw drivers who’ve turned public roads into their private parking zones, by shopkeepers who let customers block footpaths and roads with parked vehicles, and by the administration, which has turned a blind eye for far too long.
The scene is not restricted to Variety Square. Move a few metres ahead to Jhansi Rani Square and the mess multiplies. Rows of shops line the left side, their customers’ two-wheelers and cars scattered haphazardly, reducing the motorable road to a narrow, choked lane. Autorickshaws form yet another queue, undeterred, adding to the suffocation.
The reverse stretch from Jhansi Rani Square back to Variety Square offers no respite. It’s the same, maddening cycle: parked vehicles, idle rickshaws, encroached footpaths, frustrated commuters, and pedestrians forced to dodge traffic at their own peril.
The area near Hindi Mor Bhavan tells the same sorry story. Rickshaws park with impunity, buses struggle to halt safely, and pedestrians, risking life and limb, weave through the chaos.
What Sitabuldi needs — urgently — is enforcement. Not hollow announcements. Dedicated auto bays, strict no-parking zones in front of shops, clear pedestrian pathways, and a visible, active traffic police presence. Until then, thousands of commuters, shoppers, college-goers, and daily wage earners will continue to suffer in this civic jungle.
Sitabuldi deserves better. The citizens of Nagpur deserve better. The question is — will the authorities wake up before this chaos claims lives?
