SHILLONG, June 2: The East Khasi Hills district administration’s decision to address the problem of traffic snarls through the imposition of the system of odd-even numbers but only for public transport vehicles has met with opposition.
The East Khasi Hills Local Taxi Welfare Association (EKHLTWA) on Friday decided to move the High Court of Meghalaya against it. The EKHLTWA as well as the Synjuk Ki Nongniah Taxi Sor bad Khapsor (SNTSK) also registered protests.
The administration had on Thursday issued an order directing all public transport vehicles – SPTS buses, SSPTS – maxi cabs, and black & yellow local taxis – plying from Kachari Point towards Khyndailad (Police Bazaar) and Motphran to operate on an odd-even basis from June 5.
Delegations of EKHLTWA and SNTSK on Friday met Deputy Commissioner Rosetta Mary Kurbah, who had issued the order, and requested her to revoke it but she expressed helplessness. She said the order was issued pursuant to an order of the High Court.
“We are going to make an appeal to the High Court since it is pointless to continue with the deliberations with the deputy commissioner,” EKHLTWA president, Wandonbok Jyrwa told reporters.
According to him, the odd-even system will have an impact on the livelihood of taxi owners and taxi drivers. He alleged that the government is least bothered about the welfare of taxi drivers.
“But we need to remind the government that taxis are paying hefty taxes and preventing them from plying through these two areas is not acceptable,” Jyrwa said.
He asked the government to find out the real reasons behind traffic congestion in Shillong. Not just the taxis, private cars are also contributing to the problem, he added.
Kurbah said, “I cannot revoke my order. We conducted a detailed video analysis to find out which areas have heavy traffic snarl.”
She said the system of odd-even numbers was introduced even in the past. She said it will now be introduced on a trial basis.
“We will see next week if this is able to decongest traffic. We will explore other possibilities if we feel this system is not helping us to address the problem,” the DC said.
“We have many other plans in the pipeline to address this problem and this is only phase I,” Kurbah said.
She also said it was found that taxis are largely contributing to traffic congestion as they rotate and ply in the same place. She added that the prohibition is only in two areas and the administration is not preventing taxis from plying in other parts of the city.
