VARANASI: Age-old bullock carts and modern Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) will go together in this ‘city of congestion’. Instead of restricting slow moving goods carriers, the local authorities have finalised routes and time slots even for the entry of bullock carts in the city on the ground that “one of the oldest means of transport is also the means of livelihood for hundreds of families living in and around Varanasi”.After finalizing the traffic plan for small goods carriers, including motorized and animal pulled vehicles, SSP Anand Kulkarni on Saturday said, “As banning bullock carts on city roads is impossible as many families are dependent on them for livelihood, we have decided to divide goods carriers in separate categories to finalise hours of their movement on city roads without disrupting vehicular movement during busy hours.”SP (Traffic) SC Rawat said, “Bullock cart movement has been allowed on Lehartara-Visheshwarganj route via Andhrapul, Chawkaghat and Golgadda, Pandeypur-Visheshwarganj via Hukulganj and Chowkaghat, and Padao-Visheshwarganj via Rajghat, Bhadau and Golgadda areas. The bullock carts on these routes will ply between 11am and 4pm and from 8pm to 7am.”If junior traffic cops as well as local people are to be believed, once a bullock cart comes on a congested road, all vehicles except two-wheelers will be forced to move behind it as over-taking this slowmoving mode of transport will be almost impossible.Police have paved the way for slow moving goods carriers at a time when the Varanasi Development Authority is gearing up for the final presentation of MRTS by RITES next week to decide about its implementation for improvement in traffic scene and transportation system.VDA vice-chairman Rajesh Kumar said a presentation in this regard is due next week. After rejecting initially prepared Metro rail project, VDA in January had asked RITES to prepare a plan for MRTS by including components of light Metro, dedicated bus corridors, waterways and cable cars.Rawat said the decision has been taken by estimating the number of bullock carts and other man pulled carts as 100.When TOI contacted the persons associated with Gadiwan and Palledar union of bullock cart owners and labourers engaged in wholesale markets for loading and unloading goods, they said most of the bullock carts owners have switched to pickup vans to improve their earnings.

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