Nellore Struggles With Traffic Chaos, Shrinking Footpaths
The crisis is most severe in Stonehouse pet, the city’s busy commercial hub housing nearly 1,500 traders and wholesale establishments: Reports
NELLORE: Nellore’s rapid urban growth is colliding with a worsening traffic and civic infrastructure crisis, with shrinking footpaths, chaotic parking, mushrooming push carts and roadside encroachments turning daily commuting into a nightmare.
Already struggling with rising vehicle numbers and thousands of auto-rickshaws, the city is now witnessing a sharp increase in push carts occupying busy roads and junctions. Many of these carts were distributed as part of welfare initiatives by ruling party leaders, including A.P. Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister P. Narayana, who reportedly donated around 600 push carts to help poor families earn a livelihood.
While residents appreciated the welfare initiative, commuters said the growing number of push carts was worsening congestion on already narrow roads.
As Nellore nears the one-million population mark, roads across GNT Road, Mini Bypass, Trunk Road, Kapu Street, Chinna Bazaar and Podalakur Road remain clogged with vehicles parked on both sides. Footpaths have either disappeared or been encroached upon, forcing pedestrians onto busy roads.
“We are forced to walk amid traffic because there are no proper footpaths left,” said M. Vinay of NTR Nagar.
The crisis is most severe in Stonehouse pet, the city’s busy commercial hub housing nearly 1,500 traders and wholesale establishments. Lack of parking facilities and narrow internal roads frequently bring traffic to a standstill.
The situation around AC Subbareddy Vegetable Market near Madras Bus Stand has become equally chaotic, with roadside vendors occupying both sides of the road. Commuters said travelling between the District Court and V.R. College junction had become a frustrating ordeal, especially during peak hours and rainy days when waterlogging and vegetable waste worsened conditions.
A police officer, speaking about the traffic mess, said the Atmakur bus stand, which handles nearly 300 buses daily, should be shifted to Saluchintala near the Polytechnic College to ease congestion. He noted that nearly 20,000 people visit the bus stand and adjoining wholesale markets every day, apart from thousands using the nearby Nellore railway station.
The officer also stressed the need to stop new auto-rickshaw registrations and terminate autos from surrounding areas at city entry points to reduce traffic pressure.
Traffic police have intensified enforcement drives against illegal parking, while municipal authorities are exploring structured parking facilities and stricter enforcement of building regulations. However, residents said only long-term urban planning could rescue Nellore from its growing mobility crisis.
