Guwahati: Of truant personnel and shoddy traffic management!

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The ongoing construction of the longest flyover connecting Dighalipukhuri Point with Noonmati FCI has brought Guwahati’s traffic to a standstill. The traffic police seem to have no special plans to manage the traffic along the road. The entire road, stretching from Chandmari to Guwahati Club, is plagued by congestion and gridlocks, leaving commuters frustrated and helpless.

According to a PWD official, the footpaths have been dismantled to widen the roads. However, the traffic branch seems unprepared to manage the chaos, with no special plans in place to mitigate the congestion. The PWD official said that thorough planning with experts is required to manage the traffic flow.

On-duty traffic police officers admit that managing traffic on this road is a daunting task, particularly when the Chandmari rail gate is closed for about 25 minutes at a time and the traffic congestion worsens. This closure leads to a surge in traffic crossing from both sides of the rail gate, making it challenging for the traffic police to control. The morning and evening office hours are the times when the traffic is at peak from the Chandmari traffic point to Guwahati Club.

A traffic source revealed that while by-lanes were constructed to ease traffic, few commuters use them, and insufficient manpower hinders effective traffic management. Currently, 45 officials, including home guards, are needed to monitor traffic, but only 30 are available, making it difficult to implement special plans to control the traffic.

Commuters are bearing the brunt of the construction, with a government employee lamenting that it’s now rare for them to reach office on time. “I have to leave home earlier than usual time to reach the office. I have no option as I have to use that particular road as my office is situated there, so I have to face it.”

“The construction for development is okay, but it should be done with proper planning. Once they decide on a project, they just start digging,” the commuter said.

Another commuter, a parent, expressed concern about the safety of school-going children due to the dusty and potholed road. “I request the authorities to spray water along the construction sites to minimise the dust and fill up the potholes.”

The construction, meant to improve infrastructure, has become a source of distress for Guwahati’s residents, highlighting the need for better planning, management, and coordination between authorities to minimise the impact on commuters.

A similar situation is seen below the Six Mile Flyover, where traffic personnel often remain absent. The juncture where the VIP Road and the Six Mile-Panjabari Road meet witnesses traffic snarl as often as not. The traffic signal at this point has been out of order for several months. Why has this traffic signal been left without repair for several months? Had the traffic personnel deployed there performed their duty sincerely, the traffic congestion at the juncture would have been reduced to a great extent. The situation is even worse at the Six Mile-Jayanagar juncture below the Six Mile Flyover.

The moot question is: How come traffic constables look the other way when ‘traffic mismanagement’ goes on under their nose?

 Also read: Guwahati: Integrated Traffic Management System fails to give Citizens a respite (sentinelassam.com)

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