DCP (Traffic) Prasanta Saikia Chants Traffic Management Mantra

GUWAHATI: Spelling out as to how traffic snarls in Guwahati – where roads are often seen to teem with vehicles from nose to tail – can be managed, DCP (traffic) Prasanta Saikia said that strict adherence to three E’s can ease the situation.

Talking to The Sentinel on traffic management in Guwahati, the DCP said: “We need to see that the three E’s in traffic parlance are strictly adhered to. By one of the three Es I mean road engineering comprising dividers, barricades, traffic cones and the like. All should know their proper use, and do accordingly. The second E is education, which essentially means the rules of the roads which a driver or a rider should be fully aware of and adherent. A white line along the edge of a road tells drivers not to park their vehicles beyond it towards the road. This is just an example as to how a driver aware of in the rules of the road needs to do. The rule book says that helmet is a must for a rider. Passengers stopping buses between two stops is violation of the rule. People should take the pain to go up to the bus stop to board a bus so as to help not to create traffic congestion or not to cause accidents. Everybody should be well aware of what ‘right to way’ exactly is. When two drivers from opposite directions confront in a traffic junction, both the drivers should have the clear idea as to who should be given passage first so as not to cause any traffic congestion.

Parking within a radius of 50 metres is not allowed in any road junction. Every driver has to slow down his/her vehicle while approaching a zebra crossing. The third E stands for enforcement. Issuing driving licences only to those who can drive and know rules of the road can help reduce traffic snarls to a great extent.”

Saikia said: “The department cannot depute traffic personnel at all traffic points round the clock. When there is no traffic personnel manning any traffic point, education on the part of the drivers can run everything smoothly. Adherence to traffic rules can make it all.”

According to Saikia, nowadays majority of people are reluctant to use public transports, needing each family to own two/three vehicles. Such an attitude, according to Saikia, has a cascading effect on traffic management.

“In advanced city buses commuters board only through the rear door and alight only through the front door. There’re no handymen in such buses that don’t stop between their usual stops. Plying such fleet of buses in Guwahati can also reduce traffic snarls in the city,” the DCP said.

The DCP has identified some traffic points in Guwahati which, according to him, are too busy. “Take the case of Basistha Chariali. Vehicles come from the Basistha Temple side, Khanapara, Jalukbari and Dispur Last Gate. The juncture is often seen teeming with vehicles from nose to tail. I’m drawing some strategies on an experimental basis for smooth traffic management there,” he said.

On traffic chaos at Nepali Mandir point at Paltan Bazar in the city, the DCP said: “Last week I had an interaction with around 100 city bus drivers. I’ve made them understand as to how traffic snarls can be avoided without affecting people’s movement.”

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