Grozny 2005

From the new issue of Chechen Society Newspaper:

Grozny Megalopolis

The Capital of Chechnya: From Skyscrapers to Traffic Jams

Grozny, the third largest town in the North Caucasus in the 1990s, is trying to recapture its former “glory”. At the moment, however, this aspiration is only evident in the traffic jams in the centre of town.

By Timur Aliev

Car horns, the irritated cries of the drivers, whose path is being blocked by minibus- taxis, dropping passengers off right in the middle of the road… Pedestrians in the same spot stepping from brick to brick, trying to cross the “lake” of mud…. This is a typical scene at the central crossroads in Grozny near the House of Fashion, which is currently being renovated.

Observing this scene, you somehow have more faith in the results of the census in Chechnya that counted more than a million inhabitants in the republic. Grozny really is acquiring more traits of a capital city. It is true that it has been decided to scrap the positive side of this phenomenon – the skyscrapers promised a year ago in the centre of the Chechen capital – in favour of 3-4 storey houses. On the other hand the negative side of giant towns – the traffic jams – “overtook” us long ago.

By day Grozny resembles other Russian regional centres in this regard. Travelling a few kilometres from the “Avtobaza” bus stop, past the government building, past the old House of Print and past the House of Fashion to what used to be Lenin Square, can sometimes take no less than half an hour. What happens if you need to do this a few times?

The first traffic jam appeared more than a year ago near the central market. At that time they tried a radical solution to the problem – they moved the market. This did not help, however. The traffic jam did not disappear and the market returned to its former site.

Recently in addition to the congestion near the House of Fashion, traffic jams have cropped up in four or five other places. Generally, they are at the intersection of Grozny’s central streets: Krasnye Frontoviki Street and Ordzhonikidze Prospekt, Krasnye Frontoviki Street and Prospekt Mira, Mayakovskii Street and Krasnoznamennaya Street.

Traffic lights installed a year ago have not resolved the situation. According to some Russian state TV channels, these quasi-mythical appliances, which Chechen children have supposedly never seen before, should have pleased everyone. Unfortunately, the traffic lights have remained “mythical” in the sense that they do not work.

The traffic lights have been replaced with traffic controllers, who do not need electricity. “It was difficult at first – people didn’t understand the traffic controller’s hand signals. It’s easier now as people have got used to it”, says Hasan, a police man on point-duty.

“Old residents” near the market of workers at the House of Fashion say that at one time [the authorities] tried to solve the problem of traffic jams in the area by “installing” a traffic controller. This idea had to be abandoned as the residents claim the police officer was nearly run over.

Of course, the traffic jams could be seen as a good thing if we take them as a consequence of the financial prosperity of the town’s inhabitants, who are acquiring cars with their extra money.

The traffic jams in Grozny, however, are more likely to be another sign of the general ambivalence of the situation in the Republic – neither war nor peace, neither prosperity nor ruin. There is no active military action, but people are dying. Houses in Grozny are being renovated, but a year later the plaster is starting to crumble and the paint is beginning to peel.

There are actually a lot of cars, but everyone knows that they are all “C-50” models (“Compensation-50s”, which means they have been bought on the compensation money received for destroyed housing and the figure “50” denotes the fact that applicants had to give over 50% of the money in order to get it).

As a rule the traffic jams are an effect of ruin – and the lack of renovated roads and car parks in the centre of Grozny. The narrow width of the central streets does not allow cars to park by the market without obstructing the traffic.

The situation may be partly resolved this spring. According to the Ministry of Housing and Communal Management (HCM) of Chechnya 12 roads around the centre of Grozny are currently being completely renovated. This will partially solve the problem of the traffic jams as “redirecting the flow of lorries around the centre will lead to a reduction in the burden of goods traffic on the central roads”.

The main bridge across the River Sunzha is also being renovated. According to the Grozny town council, in order to speed up this process they have decided to raise finance from credit and by economising money on other renovation projects in the town.

However, there is another condition that will have to be met in order for the traffic jams to disappear from Grozny. Traffic regulations will have to be adhered to. While pedestrians insist on crossing the street wherever they feel like it, buses let passengers off on public roads and cars drive on the pavements, there will not be order on the roads.

So, change is needed not just around us, but inside us and neither the HCM nor the town council can help us with that.

(translated by Claire C. Rimmer)