By Manas Chaudhuri
The on-going exercise by IIM Shillong to craft a road map for addressing Shillong’s insurmountable traffic management problem is a welcome initiative. IIMs enjoy an impeccable reputation and, as such, it is legitimate to expect that this premier management institution which draws sharp young minds from far and wide, should come up with innovative and plausible ways out for containing this hellish experience on the cramped roads that citizens suffer ad nauseam. What the IIM is going to prescribe is anybody’s guess, but let’s be clear that nobody has a magic wand to shoo away traffic woes. It would be naïve not to acknowledge that there is no easy fix. What was a manageable problem initially has assumed an ugly and annoying proportion today. The deplorable traffic scene of Shillong is a sad commentary on those who have successively governed the state for the last fifty years without sparing any thought for its citizens.
It’s not that the issue was never flagged. Assembly proceedings are replete with debates on the burning issue. Seldom has the Opposition missed an opportunity to castigate the Treasury for its inability to tackle the issue. Ironically, when the Opposition is at the helm and roles change, predictably the saga gets repeated like a parrot cry. The truth is that no government in the last half a century ever tried to address the problem on a top priority basis. The palpable indifference of the political class over the decades has brought the situation to breaking point. Today, the citizens find themselves in dire straits with little or no immediate hope of relief.
Not that there was no attempt ever. Way back in 1985, the first ever unofficial initiative came from the Rotary Club of Shillong. A day-long symposium was attended by various stakeholders, including relevant government agencies like the Police. The participants were clear in their minds about what needed to be done. Among the many recommendations, the symposium had urged for creation of bye-lanes and by-passes to downtown Shillong to take the traffic load off the arterial roads; augmentation of parking space and the like. The papers submitted to the government simply gathered dust in the secretariat and precious little happened since there was neither any follow up nor any public pressure brought on the government. However, around that period I recall when Grosswell Mylliemngap was the Transport Minister, the government had taken a proactive decision to put a moratorium on issuing fresh taxi permits. The underlying thought then was that the roads of Shillong were hardly equipped to handle such a large volume of traffic. To put a cap on the number of taxis was one easy step. Sadly, subsequent governments completely ignored the decision and fell for cheap vote-centric temptation to upturn the decision.
In 2008, the short-lasting coalition headed by Don Kupar Roy made another attempt to take a closer look at the issue at hand. Entire cabinet, civil and police top brass were huddled in the secretariat conference room. Everybody felt that something needed to be done for reducing vehicular traffic in the capital. The exercise was too superficial and very little came out of it. There was neither any white paper on the traffic scene nor was there any concrete proposal to push for radical reforms. Towards the end, as everybody was groping for some ground action, an IG level police official came up with the innovative idea of making a small beginning by introducing odd and even system of plying of local taxis. Everybody latched on to the proposal happy in the thought that at least something is better than nothing! Accordingly, it was decided to issue an official press release notifying the government decision. All the local dailies reported this “path breaking” measure to contain the burgeoning traffic curse. But then, one day later, the most bizarre thing happened. Deputy Chief Minister Hoping Stone Lyngdoh, who was in-charge of Home and duly present at the meeting, issued a damning statement that he was not a party to this decision. Apparently, the taxi owners’ body met him to express their displeasure with the thought of introduction of odd-even system, and he merrily capitulated. With a tenuous majority for the government then, nobody dared question Lyngdoh. That marked the end of state government’s feeble bid to ease the problems of motorists!
In the beginning
The roads of Shillong were never meant to cater to today’s deluge of automobiles. In the last century, roads in Shillong, have by and large remained the same—narrow and ill-suited for handling the large vehicular traffic of today. During this period, especially since the creation of Meghalaya, automobiles have been hitting the roads by the hundreds every month. According to the statistics of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in 2019, there were 3.66 lakh automobiles registered in Meghalaya. It will be safe to surmise that three-fourths of these automobiles relate to East Khasi Hills. Add to this the floating automobiles that ply from the rural areas and outside the state. And then, we have the automobiles of the Defence and para-military forces in and around Shillong. The enormity of the problem is terrifying as the roads are increasingly getting cramped. Driving through the town today is a nightmare, complain most motorists. What used to take a mere 15 minutes a few years ago, may take as much as 90 minutes today. The traffic snarls of Shillong are ubiquitous and everyone is prepared to accept the inevitability of the situation. They may gnash their teeth in revulsion but are unable to bare their teeth to the authorities. It’s a supine, helpless surrender!
No easy fix
Keeping in mind that Shillong is a hill station – not a city- let us not deceive ourselves into comparing Shillong to Guwahati where construction of flyovers and road widening are normal and every citizen is prepared to put up as an accepted part of life. Clearly, Shillong has to work within its own physical and political limitations. A few years ago, the Government had talked about having flyovers from Motphran to Secretariat hill. It’s a heaven’s blessing that such a monstrous edifice never became a reality. The concept of flyovers is totally repugnant to the contours of this verdant plateau. We need to rely on our own ingenuity to come out of the mess.
I believe that we are in a desperate situation which warrants desperate measures. In this context, I am tempted to offer my own short-term and long-term suggestions for easing the traffic woes of the citizens. Here’s what I believe can help the situation tangibly:
1. Regulate the sale of automobiles: As in Singapore no one should be allowed to buy cars off the showrooms without government authorisation. A regulating authority should be put in place to check, inter alia, whether the family already possesses cars or not, whether there is parking facility or not before permitting new automobiles to hit the roads. In any case, there has to be a cap on the number of automobiles for each family. According to one unofficial estimate, Shillong has been adding at least 500 new vehicles every month. Adding 6000 new cars on an annual basis is putting that much more congestion on the roads.
2.Introduce Odd-Even system for all vehicles across the board. Even the government vehicles should not be spared. Didn’t it work wonders during the pandemic related lockdown?
3. Cull the old vehicles that are 15 years old and put a ban on their plying on the roads in the town.
4. Create dedicated tracks for walkers around the town to encourage people to walk. The town’s diameter will be no more than five to seven kms. It’s not a huge ask by any means.
5. Call meetings of all stakeholders at various levels for creating public opinion on a bottom up approach to be prepared to make sacrifices for the common good. Let the people themselves suggest what needs to be done for ease of living.
6. Create and deploy an SOT like satrap for enforcing traffic regulations throughout the town unsparingly. Few really seem to care for the poor traffic cop’s authority these days. We need a stringent mechanism in place if the system has to work.
7. Acquire land for widening of roads on a war footing. All these years the government has been pussy footing on this score. Time is up for such strange nonchalance. There has to be a business-like approach.
8. Utilise Smart City initiative to plough in funds specifically for addressing the infrastructure deficiency.
The list is surely not exhaustive. Much more needs to be done, provided there is a collective will. This is our town and our life. We need to take ownership of both We cannot leave it all to the conundrum called Government. Obviously, there has to be huge dose of public cooperation and patience, not to speak of an unbending political will. With the politicos on election mode, expect little to happen in the next few months. Even if the IIM course correction measures are brilliant and out of the box, make no mistake, we still need a government to make it happen. The million-dollar question is: Will the new government rise to the occasion? To me the answer lies squarely with the citizens who should make up their minds what kind of life people aspire to live. If they resolve to push the politicos hard, maybe there is a hope. It’s election time which is also an opportunity. The least every citizen can do is question every vote-seeking election candidate about their take on the road blues in Shillong. Sensitise them. Make a deal on this issue. Maybe then we could turn a new leaf!
(The author can be reached at: [email protected])