Never-ending gridlock
There seems to be no end to traffic congestions in Shillong. A lot has been said and a few things have been done but a permanent solution seems elusive.
Just last week, severe jams were witnessed in several parts of the city. Those caught up in traffic jams blame overtaking, violation of lane rules, unorganised parking and self-designated embarkation and disembarkation points as the root cause of the problem.
There are other contributing factors as well. Entry of trucks into the city during peak hours, a beeline of vehicles carrying tourists from Assam and elsewhere and rickety old vehicles also add to the gridlock. The narrow roads of the city leave no room for road expansion work and flyovers have turned into a utopia. But is there any light at the end of the tunnel? Probably, if the Traffic Department is ready to implement some stringent measures without yielding to any ‘pressure’.
To start with, temporary road dividers could be installed in strategic areas to deter people, especially two-wheeler riders, from jumping lanes. Also, traffic cops could designate parking areas in certain places where the traffic flow is high. A policy could be put in place to provide incentives to owners to allow scrapping of their vehicles which are over 15 years old. Embarkation and disembarkation points should be fixed and implemented strictly. These are some measures suggested by residents who feel that we have to start from somewhere. Can’t we?
The high of Shillong’s hills
Shillong’s roads are very twisty and as such it requires more attention on part of the drivers.
So why are the drivers on spotlight? Well, Sunday is a day when local tourists opt to head towards Sohra via Upper Shillong roads for their share of merrymaking.
This Sunday, many cars from Assam too were seen heading towards this direction. But ‘ML’ and ‘AS’ cars were easily distinguishable. How? Well, on one hand you have a neatly aligned aisle of cars, which were ML, while the AS vehicles were breaching the lane divider in tight turns. So, do the hills give them a high or is it simply negligence?
