The city roads are actually catering to a vehicular
population much beyond what they realistically
can. Now the Government has to step in and take necessary steps to deal with the growing traffic menace, is what an overwhelming number of residents say.
This daily got the views of car owners, pedestrians, and those who face the daily headache of traffic congestion in the city roads and highways.
A retired traffic official said the government has to relieve Shillong city from the increasing burden of traffic and think about developing the city’s outskirts.
“The whole centre of attraction is the capital, Shillong and if every family has even one car, it is no longer possible to regulate the flow vehicles.
“The outskirts of Shillong have to grow and develop so that people do not have to come to the city for all their needs,” he said.
A professor from NEHU said that the Defence Authorities in the city could part with their land in some areas in return for land in some other areas, but these are all temporary solutions he said. What the government should try to do is be futuristic and develop several bypasses so that heavy traffic can be diverted away from the city,” he said.
A post graduate student said the Government ought to engage the IIM Shillong on expert management of traffic. “The IIMs and IITs have played constructive roles in designing plans for the management of traffic and urban civic services elsewhere in the country. Meghalaya should reap the benefits of these institutes locally,” she said.
Commuters who have spent long hours in the traffic gridlock on the highway say that railways are the only solution in sight as all other measures have failed.