Schools and traffic jams
The time between 2.30 pm and 3 pm is quite nerve-wrecking for Shillongites. This is the time when most of the city schools close for the day and parents, in their eagerness to pick up their children and wards, often resort to haphazard parking of their two-wheelers and four-wheelers, sometimes quite literally on the middle of the road.
Such scenes are commonplace in certain areas in and around IGP, Barik, Dhankheti and Don Bosco Square, where a large number of schools are located.
Now, it is absolutely necessary for parents to be as close to the school gates as possible to pick-up their children, especially younger ones, as they should not be allowed to cross the streets unattended. But the same necessity turns into trouble when their vehicles are not parked and positioned correctly. Perhaps, the school authorities and the Traffic department could sensitise the parents on the issue or designate certain spots as parking areas between 2 pm and 3 pm so that others, who may be attending to emergencies, are not inconvenienced.
DTO’s office premises. Although defunct, one may wonder what value they hold since they are yet to be scrapped. Or is it merely negligence? (ST)