By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The horror of traffic jams is back in the city which witnessed major traffic snarls for the last two days .
Residents of Shillong were in for a not so pleasant surprise on Monday after the ‘No Entry” imposed along the road from Dhanketi point to Don Bosco Square played a major role in causing traffic jams across the city.
The situation though was a bit better on Tuesday with vehicles moving at a snail’s pace in different parts of the city.
Speaking to The Shillong Times on Tuesday, the Additional Superintendent of Police (traffic) Herbert Lyngdoh said that the ongoing construction of a culvert at Don Bosco square has resulted in huge traffic snarl across the city. According to Lyngdoh, the traffic personnel are allowing two way flow of traffic for small vehicles on the spot at occasions to improve the situation a bit.
The traffic jam was evident at Rilbong point, Anjalee Petrol Pump, Barik, Dhankheti and IGP points besides other areas of the city including Khyndailad.
The situation turned worse as many vehicles were seen over taking, making three to four lanes in the process on the small city roads.
Lyngdoh added that the situation was better on Tuesday and the traffic
cops are toiling hard to ensure smooth flow of vehicles.
“Till the time we ensure the smooth flow of traffic, we will have a bit of problem,” he said.
Reacting to a query, the police official stated that the presence of big potholes on the roads have also added to the traffic pressure.
“The potholes have slowed the movement of vehicles and we have already written to the concerned authorities to fix the potholes for smooth flow of traffic,” he said.
The huge traffic snarl has also resulted in the paucity of public transport vehicles all over the city and many people were seen standing at different junctions to board local taxis and buses.
However, some of the maxi taxis made a brisk business as many of them overloaded beyond measures and passengers were seen sitting even on the door of the taxis.
Meanwhile, concerned over the rampant digging of roads in the city resulting in inconvenience to people, the GAD minister AL Hek has asked the PHE department to speed up the work for laying pipelines in the city.
Speaking to The Shillong Times here on Tuesday, Hek said, “The PHE has dug many places which led to traffic jams in the city.”