SHILLONG: Congress legislator HM Shangpliang on Wednesday blamed traffic personnel for inconveniencing commuters by giving importance to VIP vehicles.
Moving a call attention motion on road congestion, Shangpliang said the public are left in the lurch when traffic personnel make way for MLAs’ vehicles during traffic snarl.
To this Home Minister James Sangma defended traffic personnel saying it was “an insult to the boys in the traffic department” to say that they were there only for MLAs and added that many traffic personnel work beyond the eight-hour shift.
Sangma added that it was not good to “criticise our boys” who are working hard. “We should be considerate.”
There was a brief argument between Shangpliang and Sangma when the former said he did not “criticise” to which the latter replied that it was understood when he raised the issue.
The Congress MLA said Sangma should focus on the issues of traffic congestion and the department’s effort to find a solution to the problem.
Earlier, in his reply, Sangma said traffic congestion “is an unwanted offshoot of urbanisation and the solution is multi-pronged”.
In his speech during the call attention motion, Shangpliang pointed to the committee constituted to look into road congestion and said till date, nothing has been heard from the government.
He cited the example of a 108 Ambulance that was stuck in traffic whereas VIP vehicles were found parked in the no parking zone. “What is the committee doing,” he asked.
Shangpliang said as per information from the East Khasi Hills DTO, “15,000 vehicles are registered in a year which comes to 1,250 a month”.
Shangpliang asked Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to give his statement on the matter to which Conrad said there is a road map to handle traffic.
The chief minister also asserted that procedures of conduct are to be followed indicating his inability to give any reply on the matter.
Speaker Donkupar Roy intervened saying the rules were to be followed and did not allow unnecessary precedent in the House.
