By Louis Pyngrope
It is mandatory for the Government of the day to seriously plan for the growth of the New Shillong Township (NST) so that it is free from all the defects of the old Shillong. From what is visible today it is evident that successive governments including the present one is allowing the growth of the new township without any long term plans and hence the emerging flaws, especially the narrow roads and encroachment of houses, shops and hotels into the main road. As of now, the NST is growing organically without any control. Ultimately it will be exactly like the old Shillong with all the defects of an unplanned city. However, even at this stage it is not too late to start introducing and executing the planning for the NST by incorporating new ideas and additions to the Master Plan by making strategic changes and adding robust building rules to it. This was we can eliminate many defects like narrow roads, non-existent drainage system, etc. which are the eyesores in old Shillong but are now surfacing in the NST.
The Government must have a vision to imagine what the NST will look like 50 years from now. I happened to attend the general meeting of the Pyngrope Clan held at the football Ground of Tynring Village on Saturday March 11, 2023 and personally experienced the inconvenience of driving through Diengpasoh to reach Tynring village. A heavily-loaded pickup truck in front of us moved at snail’s pace and our bus could not overtake it as the road was too narrow. I have also seen several new houses coming up that were constructed right on the road.
The Government needs to issue guidelines through the Urban Affairs Department/the headman to allow construction of houses or buildings only when they fulfil certain criteria and do not violate the safety and security norms or spoil the ambiance of the surrounding areas. Houses should not be too close to each other nor encroach on the road. All house owners need to follow the building bylaws very strictly so as to enhance the beauty of New Shillong. This is the right time when the Government needs to intervene by converting the existing narrow roads into a broader road, preferably a 4-lane road immediately as waiting any longer is not the option due to the difficulty in getting additional land from the property owners on the existing roadside.
Secondly as an attraction for tourists and scholars, the Government needs to invest on infrastructure by purchasing more land to construct a market place (strictly for female traders which is more suitable for our matrilineal society) more or less equivalent to Iewduh (Bara Bazaar) or shopping malls. Also setting up good schools and colleges in NST so as to prevent further crowding of Shillong city and thereby ease traffic congestion in Shillong.
Thirdly, Government should take steps to convert the existing playground in Tynring into a state of the art Stadium and Gymnasium for indoor and outdoor games with provision for future expansion. This time the MDA02 Government has a competent and capable minister looking after Tourism, who can weigh the flaws brought to his notice and make immediate correction, especially on the issue of proper drainage system and laying of water pipelines for the benefit of the citizens of New Shillong. Such flaws have surfaced now and immediate correction needs to be made for a proper growth of New Shillong.
Again, as a suggestion to convert the narrow roads to broad and comfortable roads, a detailed plan must be drawn to expand the existing narrow road with a provision to include tram rails for trams to ply over the whole city. As a special attraction to tourists, arrangements can be made for funiculars to ply at some places with good gradient where there is presence of beautiful gardens/ waterfalls et al. Also, ropeways connecting both Old and New Shillong may be planned for the locals and visiting tourists.
The traffic jams we experience in Old Shillong is a serious concern and it is likely to continue in New Shillong if we do not act fast. This will deter tourists from visiting our state. No efforts were made by the past governments to solve these problems by building flyovers, ropeways, etc. Further, the electronics traffic signal system is the best tool to regulate traffic in various parts of the world but not so in our state after it was tested for a limited period of time. I am convinced that the failure of the electronics traffic signal system was purely due to the out- dated and sub-standard software used during its implementation. This technology is still accepted with pride even by advanced civilisations of the world. The problem in solving such issues lies on the ability of the MLA we have elected and appointed by the Government to take the responsibility to look after all these concerns and advise the Government accordingly. This time the new set of legislators have enough wisdom to understand what is good for a planned New Shillong as they can take advantage of new and relevant technology.
From the view point of beauty, the condition of the New Shillong is alarming, Now is the right time for the Government to start reviewing and constructing 4 lane roads from the central point of New Shillong to the surrounding centres so that traffic congestions can be avoided in future by taking into consideration the existing rate of increase of vehicles registered within our state and the rise in population. As of now, one may think that such ideas are irrelevant for a small city like Shillong but we will be happy to see the benefits 50 years hence.
It is high time for the MDA02 Government to come up with a permanent solution to ease the existing traffic congestion in both Old Shillong (which was not planned since its inception) and New Shillong (which is now growing arbitrarily in an unplanned manner) which really affects the life of common man. If the above points are taken into consideration, the tourists who visit New Shillong will praise its excellent planning and its beauty and word of mouth will spread about New Shillong’s reputation as the city deserving of being awarded for being a clean, smart city. It is my belief that the Government has not done any research on the failure of the electronics traffic signal which was operational for a short time in Shillong. This is evidence enough that we are the poorest in understanding the effectiveness of new technology for the benefit of the citizens of the State. Why not replicate the electronics traffic signals system implemented on similar roads in other states of India with more or less the same intensity of traffic during rush hours. The Traffic department should consult the traffic signals experts from other states to help provide customised software on payment for the effective implementation of electronics traffic signal? The same organisation can also train our signal units on the operations part. Again, when I was doing my research from the documentaries on the operation of electronics traffic signals in European countries, I found that the electronics traffic signals are working perfectly on similar narrow roads with more or less the same traffic intensity with a little extra traffic like electric trams, funiculars, cyclists, skate riders, etc.
Our experiences so far in the existing unplanned old Shillong should prompt the Government not to repeat the same mistakes in NST. We would like to see that New Shillong is free of problems caused by narrow roads in residential areas, improper sewage system leading to river pollution etc. that we have faced so far. We now hope for a well-planned New Shillong with no scope of it being ignored. Having been branded by the Union Home Minister as the corrupt No.1 state in the country, we want legislators to fulfil our aspirations this time. Believe me, if the above-mentioned suggestions are ignored the citizens will curse the existing Government in 2028.