SHILLONG, March 17: The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly on Wednesday took due note of the omnipresent traffic congestion in the city and elsewhere in the state and its potent effect on commuters.
Drawing the attention of the House to the ever-growing traffic congestion, Congress MLA from Mawsynram, Himalaya Shangpliang narrated the sorry tale of a family that had to carry the body of a baby on foot after facing heavy traffic congestion on the Shillong-Jowai highway.
Shangpliang informed the House that the incident occurred on March 15 after hundreds of trucks piled up on the highway due to breakdown of trucks at Wah Mynsoo -Mookyndur area.
The family had to walk all the way to Jowai with the infant’s body, Shangpliang said, while asking the Transport department to draw a roadmap to address the regular traffic jams on the highways and even in the city.
“The number of vehicles in the state is growing with each passing day and the thousands of trucks that pass through the state are adding to the problems,” the Congress legislator said.
Power Minister James PK Sangma, who replied on behalf of Transport Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar, termed the family’s plight as unfortunate.
“This kind of incident should not have happened,” Sangma said, adding that any solution to the problem would require the convergence of multi-lateral agencies.
“We are concerned about the traffic snarls but a solution is not going to be easy since the number of vehicles is increasing and the roads cannot be widened due to multiple reasons,” Sangma added.
To a query on the number of vehicles, Sangma replied that Meghalaya has a total number of 4,15,171 registered vehicles.
Scrapping of old vehicles
Recalling that the Centre had ordered scrapping of vehicles more than 15 years old in Delhi and other states, Congress legislator Ampareen Lyngdoh wanted to know if the state government would implement the same policy in Meghalaya.
“We see many vehicles on the roads which are way oldern than 15 years,” Lyngdoh said while pointing out that these old vehicles are major sources of pollution.
Lyngdoh also questioned if High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) were still being implemented in the state. “Several vehicles do not use these HSRP anymore and are displaying fancy number plates,” she said.
The Congress legislator also wanted to know if the government is contemplating to introduce cab services for emergency situation like women travelling late from work or women wishing to go out late at night.
In his reply, James Sangma said the government will examine the policy of scrapping old vehicles if there is any directive from the Centre.
On the introduction of cab services for emergency situation, Sangma informed that the government had notified the Meghalaya Taxi Aggregators Operational Rules, 2020.
“We will provide services to the people and at the same time regulate the safety of women and other vulnerable sections of the society,” he assured.