Chuttugunta Circle, Unblocked

Every road crash tells a story — of a life lost not just to a broken signal or a missing footpath, but to the larger failure of systems meant to protect us. Team Vignan from Guntur shows how youth-led research can turn everyday road risks into opportunities for systemic improvement.

When governance weakens and accountability fades, it's ordinary people who pay the price. Project Rakshak was created to change that — to bring young minds to the frontlines of India's road safety reform. Across the country, student teams are identifying high-risk zones, studying local realities and designing data-backed solutions that can inform real change. Among them, Team Vignan from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh has stood out for its clarity, discipline and depth of work.

Chuttugunta Circle: a junction in crisis

Team Vignan's focus area is Chuttugunta Circle in Guntur — one of South India's busiest and most complex junctions. As the convergence point for NH-544D, NH-544F and NH-16, it carries everything from interstate trucks and city buses to schoolchildren and street vendors. Chuttugunta Circle is an artery of economic importance — and simultaneously, one of elevated risk in Andhra Pradesh.

In their initial month of fieldwork, Team Vignan (Nischal Kafle, Shiv Sankar and Bishal Shrestha) documented broken signals, missing zebra crossings, widespread encroachments and pedestrians forced to walk through fast-moving traffic. By the second month, accident data obtained from the Superintendent of Police confirmed their observations — between 2022 and 2024, motorcyclists and pedestrians made up the majority of recorded crashes.

A participatory lens: stakeholders at the forefront

What makes Team Vignan's approach distinct is their belief that policy must begin with people's voices. Through structured surveys, they engaged 54 stakeholders — pedestrians, rickshaw drivers, vendors, truckers, shopkeepers and even traffic police.

Their findings reveal a sobering but familiar story:

• Congestion cripples daily life

  Causing accidents and delays at every cycle.
• Encroachments and illegal parking

  Rob pedestrians of safe and trusted space.
• Signals fail or don't exist

  At critical points, leading to chaos at conflict zones.
• Pedestrians are invisible in the design

  With no safe crossings or refuge islands.
• Night-time risks soar

  Due to poor street lighting across the junction.

Observe, act, transform

Team Vignan's tiered plan blends realism with ambition — recognising that while systemic changes take time, the small steps taken today can save lives tomorrow.

• Phased clearance

  Vendor relocation to a designated zone, in three phases — protecting livelihoods while restoring carriageway width.
• Auto stand

  A marked stand with a queue line that drivers actually use, ending kerbside clustering.
• Bus bay enforcement

  Penalty-backed enforcement against on-carriageway halts.
• Signal restoration

  Repair and full-cycle programming for the existing signal head.
• Pedestrian phase

  A dedicated walk phase plus repainted zebra crossings on all four arms.

In a country where crash numbers continue to climb each year, the work of teams like these is quietly lifesaving — reflected in every child who now has a zebra crossing to walk on, every commuter who finds a safe footpath, and every ambulance that reaches the hospital without delay. Chuttugunta Circle needs action — action guided by the clarity and urgency Team Vignan has been showing. Municipal authorities, enforcement agencies and citizens alike must treat these findings as a shared responsibility.