Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL)’s project  to have ‘smart iconic traffic posts’ at major junctions of capital city Bhubaneswar and cover all the the solar power in a phased manner  for the personnel to man traffic posts for hours, has fallen flat on the face and people’s money has gone down the drain.

Unfulfilled Promises and Operational Failures

These iconic traffic posts now without illumination at important junctions like the New Airport Square have become a nightmare for motorists as well as the traffic police personnel at night. The problems for road users are compounded when the traffic light stop functioning due to various reasons and the traffic personnel have to control the vehicular traffic with hand signals, whom the motorists are not able to see clearly. So, this endangers all the road users as well as traffic personnel.

When the iconic posts had started operating at some places the BSCL said “Iconic traffic posts are now lighting up key locations across the city, enhancing traffic safety and adding a modern touch to urban infrastructure.”

Events That Exposed the Flaws

However, now even during the recent DGP Conference, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and ‘Utkarsh Odisha’ when many national and international personalities were in the capital city, these iconic smart traffic posts were in darkness while major roads were decorated with lights, which proves the lip service done about upgrading urban infrastructure and the indifferent attitude of the concerned officials.

Earlier, the BSCL had said that, “The smart iconic traffic posts will be equipped with solar power systems having power backups of up to 56 hours. There will be energy-saving ceiling fans, soft glow lights, mobile charging points, microphones and loudspeakers as well as emergency call buttons. Smart traffic posts had already been installed at nine locations, including AG square in the city.’

Allegations of Deep-Rooted Corruption

Based on feedback, new elements including rain protection cover and timer for lights would be added to the new smart traffic posts. BSCL officials said the posts will have 3D illuminated logos of the Commissionerate Police and BSCL along with location names on all sides, the BSCL had added.

Notably, the capital city has around 60 traffic posts manned by over 500 traffic personnel on rotation basis.

However, the intelligentsia said the agency which implemented the project with Smart City funds should be blacklisted and the guilty BSCL should be punished as the agency awarded the work, was required to comply with a six months defect liability period as well as four years and six months maintenance period.

But though the traffic posts have become virtually defunct within a couple of months, no action has been taken against the executing agency which points out its deep-rooted nexus with the dishonest BSCL officials.

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Bhubaneswar: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which had consecutively won three Assembly elections in Delhi suffered a major jolt, when it managed to get only 22 seats in the 2025 Assembly elections.

The AAP failed to counter the BJP narrative of massive corruption, scams and misgovernance by its leaders, which ensured a win for the saffron party after 27 years in the national capital.

The BJP campaign was spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other senior leaders struck a chord with the voters.

While several factors weighed in on the party’s loss, which saw its seat tally also going down by a huge margin, Arvind Kejriwal’s “failed promises, liquor policy and Sheesh Mahal” remained in focus. In comparison to the AAP’s tally from the 2020 Delhi election of 62 seats, this year’s 22-seat count was a major downfall.

Kejri’s Wall Collapsed

Kejriwal‘s ‘sheesh mahal’ or luxurious Chief Minister residence has been a key factor in the BJP’s poll campaign against the AAP in the run-up to the Delhi election. The saffron party accused Kejriwal of building a palace for himself while the poor and those in need were forced to stay in shanties. The Prime Minister also said while the world was struggling to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, the AAP leader was building ‘Sheesh Mahal’.

 The BJP leaders also highlighted the fact that when he came to power, Kejriwal said he needs a two -bedroom flat for his residence but he spends more than Rs 30 crores in the Sheesh Mahal.

Besides, the BJP wooed the women voters by pointing out the AAP’s liquor policy due to which some AAP senior leaders had to cool their heel behind bars in Tihar Jail.

The liquor policy helped the BJP to run an anti-AAP campaign in the slums, especially among women, because alcohol and drug abuse are big problems there.

Veteran social activist Anna Hazare , with whom Kejriwal was associated for a long time before going into mainstream politics, said that AAP lost due to the tainted image of its leadership and the controversies surrounding liquor and money.

Besides, the Prime Minister in his meeting highlighted how the AAP blocked implementation of the Central schemes like the Ayushman Bharat due to which poor people burnt a hole in their pocket to get treatment.

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