GUWAHATI: The Kamrup Metro district unit of All Assam Students Union has submitted a memorandum to city police commissioner demanding immediate measures to rein in traffic violators on the stretch between Khanapara and Jorabat along the Assam-Meghalaya border.
The students union claimed that parking of heavy vehicles on both sides of the highway near Ganesh Mandir has invariably triggered traffic snarls from morning till about 11pm, causing immense inconvenience to commuters.
“At times, two to three rows of illegally parked vehicles stretching up to a kilometre are noticed. Given the fact that the stretch is a vital communication link for the two states, it is imperative there is no hindrance to free movement of vehicles in the area. We have therefore stated in the memorandum that the stretch be declared a “No Parking Zone” for heavy vehicles at the earliest,” All Assam Students Union, Kamrup metro district general secretary, Dibyajyoti Medhi told The Shillong Times hereon Tuesday.
“Besides, in order to prevent accidents in the area, the traffic police should be directed to continue patrolling till midnight to prevent unauthorised parking of heavy vehicles in the area,” it was stated in the memorandum.
The students union also brought to the notice of the city police commissioner about an opening in the road divider in front of the CRPF camp at Nine Mile, which it alleged has compounded the traffic problem.
“There is a petrol depot at Nine Mile and several trucks coming from Guwahati are parked on the highway during the night as they wait their turn to enter the oil depot through the divider opening. It takes commuters about half an hour at times to cross the area given the congestion created by these parked trucks,” Medhi said.
The students union therefore demanded that all the openings on dividers in the area are closed. “The National Highways Authority of India norms say that there should be no openings in road dividers up to 400 metres from an oil depot. But this opening is just about 200 metres from the oil depot,” he said.
