SHILLONG: Several roads in the city are either being upgraded or repaired but most of them do not have mandatory zebra crossings, dividing lines or paved shoulders.
The road from Mawblei to Laitkor, which was repaired recently, and a short stretch in Mawiong, have zebra markings for pedestrians. The first one has paved shoulders too.
Other roads like the one from Mawlai to Lumdiengjri, which is a national highway and was repaired recently, does not have any road markings.
Similar is the case on the stretch from Police Bazar point till Lumdiengjri via GS Road, which has been repaired recently but lacked all such necessities.
With road accidents on the rise in Shillong and in other parts of the state, the importance of the road markings cannot be undermined.
When the issue was brought to the notice of a police officer, he did not comment saying “the PWD looks after it”. But he admitted that absence of zebra crossings does pose a problem for commuters.
There were no markings even before the roads were repaired.
Other major highways of the state like Umiam-Jorabat four-lane expressways, Shillong bypass, Shillong-Tura road and the road from 101 areas to Upper Shillong are updated with road safety signs.Earlier, the High Court of Meghalaya also monitored the matter related to zebra crossing marks on city roads.
The High Court will hear the matter related to zebra crossing marks on April 20 after it had ordered a slew of measures to help pedestrians.
During the earlier hearings, the court had directed the PWD to paint and put appropriate markings wherever speed breakers were installed within six weeks.
