By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sept 30: No scope for road expansion, an ever-increasing number of vehicles, and limited manpower have made the Shillong Traffic Police struggle to ease the traffic congestion.
Shillong police officials said 30-40 new vehicles hit the city roads daily. In addition, about 80 SPTS buses, syndicate buses, and maxi cabs ply on the city’s roads every day.
Officials said the police are trying their best to regulate traffic even though they have 160-180 personnel and about 80 home guards to assist in traffic management.
“There is hardly any scope for widening the roads, let alone make separate lanes like many cities in the country,” an official lamented.
Admitting that the police cannot be strict in commercial areas such as Motphran and Police Bazar, the officials said the government is working on projects to ease congestion while efforts are on to increase the manpower.
Stating that the traffic police are often assigned locations unnecessarily because of requests from the MLAs and Dorbar Shnongs for some programmes, the officials said they have to be lenient toward parents when they drop off and pick up their wards during school hours.