By Iaphilaniewkor Thangkhiew
Location: IGP, Shillong, Meghalaya; Number of minutes I have been sitting idly in this cramped taxi: 40 minutes (*noted as I was returning home from school one cold winter afternoon). Returning home without the unnecessary pamper of my parents to pick me up from school these past few months opened my eyes to the horror of traffic congestion in Shillong and how awfully every student, child, elder, worker, etc., suffers from it. Fortunately, after our last midterm exams in 2022, Class XI students were required to prepare a Project on Economics/Statistics. The horrendous flashbacks of being stuck in traffic during exhausted and lazy afternoons after school, has led me to decide on the topic-Traffic congestion in Shillong City and Suggestive Measures with the hope of finding possible suggestive measures that would decrease the traffic congestion in Shillong city.
I had handed out to 50 students within the age range of 13-18 years, 50 questionnaires comprising 13 questions, provided with multiple choices of answers for the comfort and flexibility in answering the given questions. Upon receiving all the successfully answered questionnaires, I was startled at the various responses of the students, and soon realized that the enemy was closer than I thought. The enemy is among us, the enemy is us and we decide the future of the Earth.
“Traffic congestion is transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queuing,” defined by Google’s Wikipedia, leaves a calm factual idea in our minds of what traffic congestion is. However, if someone were to ask me what is traffic congestion, I would simply show them the narrow winding roads of Laitumkhrah, Police Bazaar, Garikhana, Nongthymmai, Dhanketi, Malki, Mawlai, etc; on ordinary weekdays in January, February, March, and so my point is made.
At present, Shillong is reeling under the pressure of daily traffic jams, to the point where the Meghalaya High Court has sought a response from the State government. The then Superintendent of Police (SP) (Traffic) Shailendra Bamaniya in an interview had stated that roughly 50-100 vehicles are being added on to Shillong roads on a daily basis. He also said, “Due to manpower crisis, the Department is facing some challenges. We are trying to ease the traffic congestion but lack embarking and disembarking points and these points need to be constructed”.
Traffic congestion is hazardous to drivers, passengers and pedestrians, a fact confirmed by a personal incident. To cut a long story short, the packed road of a 7:20 am Wednesday morning caused me a minor back injury as the door of a huge car opened and bumped into our two-wheeler, causing me to fall flat on my back upon the coarse paved ground. However, what was sadder was not that the student of the huge vehicle did not apologize to me nor help me up, but that one HUGE vehicle only had one student passenger.
Let us take a look at the statistics obtained from 50 questionnaires distributed to 50 students.
We now know that 22 commute by private cars, which is a huge problem since only 20% of the 50 students stay 1hour+ away from school, creating a confusing imbalance. It is also seen that the car-pool method of commuting is rarely used by students. Car-pool reduces fuel costs and is a much more environmentally friendly and sustainable way to commute as sharing journeys reduces air pollution, carbon emissions, traffic congestion on the roads, and the need for parking spaces. This analyses clearly proves that students are one of the major reasons for traffic congestion during early morning hours and late afternoons.
An important question was also mentioned in the questionnaire – “Do you think traffic lights should be placed in Shillong?” The majority answered with a “Yes”, however, the remaining answered “No” and were required to provide a reason for their choice. Their reasons stand strong against the majority as they stated that, firstly, damaged roads should be properly fixed, and secondly the common mass would hardly co-operate with a non-living medium such as traffic lights.
We can therefore conclude that, on a reality check, traffic congestion cannot be reduced by placing traffic lights in the streets of Shillong as it would take a few years for it to become a habit and the safety of the citizens too is at risk. Instead, we are hoping for proper, more efficient traffic management system and strict traffic police who would guide the pedestrians and vehicles around the streets of Shillong. 46% of the respondents have agreed that a household should only own two vehicles at the most, while the remaining are against this recommended regulation. A majority also agreed that the loan facilities offered by various banks lead to an increase in the number of vehicles in Shillong.
By the online statistics of an approved website, updated on 31st March 2023, there are 3,66,000 registered vehicles in the State of Meghalaya. Surely, loan facilities by banks are a major cause for increase in vehicle population. The last question of the questionnaire was, “Are you aware of the scrapping policy?” The majority responded with “No,” as expected since there have been no such awareness campaigns initiated nor no such new policies by the government.
India’s Vehicle Scrappage Policy took effect from April 2022 with the objective of phasing out old passenger and commercial vehicles in order to reduce the rising air pollution, and to increase passenger, pedestrian and road safety. With this new policy imposed, we hope that the masses use it to its full potential, to not only help in reducing the number of vehicles but also in reducing the life- threatening rise of pollution all over the globe. Reducing traffic congestion should be the government’s and the citizens’ top-of-the-list priority at present, not only to avoid wastage of time and risks to human lives but also to reduce the impact to the planet’s health.
Let us look into some suggestive measures that can reduce traffic congestion: (i) Walking- If an individual stays at a walking distance away from their school, college or workplace, we highly recommend them to commute by walking as it not only helps reduce traffic congestion, but also guarantees them good health. (ii) Car-pooling- Schools should encourage parents to send their children to school on car-pool. This method saves fuel costs and greatly reduces traffic congestion in the mornings and afternoons. Of course, the car-pool fees shall vary from person to person, and the distance from school. (iii) The co-operation of the government along with the citizens’ is highly needed. In the previous months, we have heard of actions that the government is willing to take to solve this crisis such as introducing e-buses for school students.
Now that a new government is in place we, the citizens of Shillong, have high hopes of a brighter future, a better developed city, a safer environment and a better world to live in. We humbly request the government and the citizens of this small city, to work together towards the welfare of the state.
In conclusion, the student population using private vehicles, are major causes of traffic congestion. However, what if I told you that we are, indeed, the solution to it as well? We, as informed students about the hazards of traffic congestion and how the increasing number of vehicles gradually destroy our green home and its future, can work together as one. As tenants of Earth we hold a major responsibility of saving the future generations from a scorched and barren planet.
This quotation from the First Brandt Commission Report says it all— “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment?” The very scenario brings shivers down the spine. I dare you to be a coward and a hero at the same time. A coward, to let the fear get to you, and find its way to your mind, and a hero, to use that fear as an alibi, to take a step towards what would be good for you, for us and for them, the future homo sapiens that shall fall under Earth’s motherly care yet again. I dare you to leave footprints on the streets of Shillong, commute on foot, join that car-pool; share a seat on the public buses, reduce your carbon footprints on Earth. Walk, if needed to walk, run if needed to run. Let us walk the Dandi March to freedom; freedom from diseases and wars, pollution and global warming- the real enemies out there.
Let us join hands and sing a peace song as we create a world which is a safe haven for the future generations. Take this write-up not as a ranting of a 17 year old, but take is as a cry for help from the Earth and a cry for help from the future generations.
(The writer is a student of Class XII Arts ‘B’ St.Anthony’s Higher Secondary School, Shillong)