SHILLONG: The 4-5 kilometer stretch from Mawiong to Lumdiengjri via Mawlai is one of the areas in the city where traffic snarls are common and on Monday afternoon, the situation was worst in the stretch where it took vehicles more than one hour to travel a small distance.
Apart from the particular stretch, the traffic snarl was at its worst during the day in most parts of the town.
Though enough of panel discussions have taken place over the issue of traffic snarl for years, in reality, nothing much has been done.
However, Shillong Traffic police with its limited manpower has been trying its best to regulate traffic in the city. Visitors who came from Guwahati on Monday lamented that they reached upto Mawiong from Guwahati in two hours but it took them more than an hour to reach Police Bazar from Mawiong due to the traffic snarl in the area.
The state government has started thinking about extending the four lane road to Shillong besides the much awaited Mawlai bypass which is expected to ease traffic congestion in the city.
The bypass is scheduled for completion in March this year.
When contacted, officials from the Shillong Traffic Police said that traffic snarls are often seen on the particular stretch from Mawiong since a large number of tourists enter the city from the road besides there are several arterial roads in Mawlai which connect to the main road and this often leads to traffic. It was also informed that traffic police is trying its best to regulate traffic in the area despite the shortage of manpower.
The official also informed that there was traffic snarl in the city as many election related vehicles were parked behind the Raj Bhavan and the DC office informed the police about it very late.
