Vehicles and pedestrians navigate heavy traffic congestion along Big Bazaar Street in Tiruchi.
| Photo Credit: R. VENGADESH
Wilful disobedience and ineffective enforcement of traffic rules on Big Bazaar Street has worsened the suffering of commuters in the city.Hundreds of retail and wholesale traders operate along the Big Bazaar Street, right from Gandhi Market arch to Theradi Kadai Veedhi. The street is considered as a nerve centre of commercial activities in the city. Several streets, mainly Big Kammala Street, Jaffersha Street and Singarathope, join on the Big Bazaar Street. Right from grocery stores to textile showrooms and Indian medicine stores to English medicine stores and jewellery showrooms to imitation jewellery showrooms, the street offers everything to the shoppers, thereby making the street a commercial hub in the city.But the street bears the brunt of worsening traffic with the motorists, traders, hawkers, pavement traders, shopkeepers, and others violating the traffic rules at their will. According to the city police, a one way traffic rule is being enforced along Big Bazaar Street. It means that the motorists are disallowed to drive from the northern side to the southern side of the street. However, it seems that the motorists hardly respect the one way traffic rule. It is common to see auto rickshaws, two-wheelers, traders on wheels driving and light commercial vehicles towards the Gandhi market from the Big Bazaar Street, thereby causing traffic congestion.As per the billboards put up by the police, two-wheelers can be parked along the eastern side of the street on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and the opposite side on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However, two wheelers are parked on both sides on all days, thereby shrinking the actual usage portion of the road.On their part, the traders and shopkeepers encroach the roads by parking their two-wheelers and billboard advertisements in front of their shops. Vehicular traffic comes to a halt for a long time if a car or light commercial vehicle enters the road in the wrong direction. The load men, who operate pushcarts, autorickshaws, and load carriers, entering in the opposite direction adds to the woes of the commuters. It often leads to traffic snarls.The way in which the commuters suffer over the worsened traffic woes requires at least six police personnel so as to man the traffic at various junctions on the street at any given time. But, local traders claim that a sufficient number of policemen are not posted to enforce the traffic rules and regulations. “We are fed up with motorists violating the traffic rules at their will. It is high time to post an adequate number of policemen on the Big Bazaar Street,” says R. Akilan, a shopkeeper on the street. Published - June 03, 2026 07:27 pm IST
