Leading architect and planner Suryakant Patel said, instead of tackling the root of the problem, the authorities had just refocused on it.

He said the road opposite the Aradhana Cinema was broad enough to bear the existing load of traffic and there was no need to convert into a single lane.

He said the diversion had lead to traffic jams at the Kothi Building Crossroads and the entire stretch of road up to the Railway Police Headquarters, making it difficult for pedestrians to cross the road opposite Kuber Bhavan. He said it also obstructed traffic flow.

Patel said the traffic police, before taking the decision, should have consulted experts and prominent citizens about the feasibility of the plan. ``After all, the new system has been introduced for the people and it would have been perfectly okay had people's representatives been involved in the decision-making process,'' he pointed out.

A police official, on condition of anonymity, too, said the new arrangement was faulty. He said that more than 80 per cent of the traffic coming from Fatehgunj and Railway Station was headed for Makarpura and Dandia Bazar areas and the diversion of this traffic via Kothi Building and Kuber Bhawan had led to traffic chaos.

He said the diversion of traffic from Raopura towards railway station via Kuber Bhawan Road had further compounded the situation. The previous arrangement under which the traffic for Makarpura and Dandia Bazar passed through the road behind SSG Hospital was far more feasible than the new one.

He claimed that under the old arrangement there was never a traffic jam either at the Railway Police Headquarters three-point junction or on the road opposite Kuber Bhavan.