By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, May 11: The High Court of Meghalaya has lauded the state government for taking initiatives to ease traffic congestion by procuring a large number of buses for ferrying schoolchildren and asked the state to continue the good effort in such regard.
The court on Thursday continued the hearing on a PIL filed by Philip Khrawbok Shati on the traffic congestion in Shillong. It also took note of a status report filed by the state government pertaining to the traffic situation in the city wherein certain immediate, short-term, mid-term and long-term proposals have been indicated to address the issue.
“The most commendable aspect of the matter is the short time within which an initiative has been taken to procure a large number of buses for ferrying school children and to ensure that individual cars do not have to come to drop the children to school or pick them up thereafter,” the court said.
The court observed that despite availability of school buses, parents or guardians are more concerned with the security of the school going children, particularly girls, and may not be inclined to allow them to use buses or public transport even if that entails a considerable degree of inconvenience to the parents or guardians. However, the court said that it has been reported in newspapers and corroborated by Additional-Advocate General K. Khan, appearing for the state, that CCTVs have been fitted in the buses and a mobile app has been circulated or will be circulated to the parents for them to follow, real-time, the location of the buses and what may be going on inside such buses.
“The system, called the Real-Time Passenger Information System, is almost revolutionary and should allay all the misgivings a concerned parent or guardian may have as to the security of the school going child travelling in a bus,” the court said.
The court asked the state government to adopt other measures to ease the congestion on the roads, whether by building roads, parking lots, making one-way streets or other form of regulation.
“In addition, if the proposed flyover between Rilbong and Jhalupara materialises, a lot of the traffic congestion at the entry point of Shillong would have been eased. The state should continue the good effort in such regard,” the court said while asking the government to file a further report indicating the immediate and the short-term measures taken to address the gridlock.
The matter will be heard against on July 7.