Careless parking: Distress among pedestrian students

With Academia School, Southbreeze School and International School CODA all sharing the same location in Lalmatia, travelling on that road is nothing short of a nightmare for many. Peak hours during the day witness private cars parked haphazardly in the by-lanes causing heavy traffic for the students who live nearby.  

"The way the cars are left makes it really difficult for us to use this road. To avoid the jam, we need to start early from our homes despite living just beside the campus" shared a student of Academia School.  

Some drivers informed us that these cars belong to students who live far away from the school and so, going back to their homes just to keep the car is not a feasible option. "No one ever said anything to us. The cars stay here all day. The traffic-jam is mainly caused by rickshaw-pullers who race to come in between the cars," shared a driver while sitting in a car just in the front of the by-lane. Some students have come up with their own ideas to solve this problem.  Many of them carpool with their friends on their way home to lessen the traffic congestion.

"I have asked my driver to park the car in one of my friend's garage since it stays empty during the day. I try to make a small difference in this way," said another student of Academia School.  Apart from private cars, Academia School's vans and microbuses are also parked on the road, and the teachers' bikes crowd the footpath in front of the school gate.

"There are no other places to safely park our vehicles. The school authorities must take better initiatives to solve these matters," said a teacher while stopping his bike just in front of the school gate. In a hurry to pick up their kids, parents of the students also often park their bikes in the footpaths.

 Rather than complaining, many students take matters into their own hands, handling the vehicles on the road, often filling in the role of the traffic police.

Md Kutub Uddin, the managing director of Academia School also shared his thoughts. "We are trying our best to educate the students to become more responsible citizens of tomorrow. Focusing on the current scenario we plan to organise workshops for the drivers of our students where we will teach them about road safety and encourage them not to park their vehicles in a way that does not block the roads," he informed.  We intend to team up with other institutions as well to come to solution together." More often than not, the traffic police who are around are not of much help and the drivers hardly listen to the school guards. I also encourage the students to come ahead with creative solutions to get to the root of these problems."