By Our Reporter
congestion (below) in the city, on Friday. (ST)
Shillong, June 13: The ongoing construction of the Umshyrpi Bridge as part of the four-laning of the Shillong-Dawki Road project led to major traffic congestion throughout the day on Friday, causing massive inconvenience to the public and throwing normal life out of gear.
Authorities have enforced restrictions on the movement of vehicles along the bridge from June 12 to 15 between 10 pm to 5 am.
Caught in traffic jam, a lot of students had to walk to school. Not only that, many STEM buses ferrying schoolchildren from Upper Shillong area had to pass through the 101 Area Road, while some were delayed abnormally.
Many parents were forced to park their vehicles at Anjalee Point, Lum Survey and Khlieh Iewduh and walk along with their children to drop them at the Army Public School.
Poor road conditions near the Umshyrpi Bridge, as a result of ongoing construction work, caused the traffic problem. The lack of discipline among car owners and driver was another contributing factor. While speaking to The Shillong Times, SP (Traffic) Kamakhya Prasad urged the general public to bear with the situation since the work on the bridge is ongoing.
He said construction material is arriving and a crane has been put up. He said despite constraints, they are doing their best to regulate traffic. Traffic personnel are being deployed along this road round the clock.
Prasad urged vehicles coming from the Lumdiengjri area/Old Cherra and heading towards Upper Shillong via Umshyrpi Bridge to take the alternate route through Laitumkhrah–Madanriting–Laitkor–Pomlakrai–5th Mile, Upper Shillong.
He said vehicles traveling from Upper Shillong towards Umshyrpi Bridge and MES Point will be diverted at 5th Mile, Upper Shillong, via Pomlakrai–Laitkor–Madanrting–Laitumkhrah and beyond.
The SP (Traffic) said emergency service vehicles will be allowed to pass and that, they will be given necessary assistance.
“I have also requested Army authorities to allow emergency service vehicles to ply through 101 MES Road,” Prasad said.
Replying to a query, he said they have not received any request from the NHDCIL to extend the time for vehicular traffic restrictions.
“We will update if we take any decision to extend the vehicular traffic restrictions due to ongoing construction of the bridge,” he said.
He urged the general public to avoid overtaking stating that this will compound the problem.
Meanwhile, NHIDCL officials said they will try to complete the girder work within the stipulated time but the entire process may further be extended by 2-3 days. They said the stretch is a critical area and the road is not straight and even the length of the girdler is 50 metres.
“There are some limitations to work at nighttime as there is not much visibility and the output is not the same,” one of the officials said, adding that permission was not given to work during daytime due to heavy traffic in the area.