What’s on your mind? “Guwahati flyovers are all lit up for Durga Puja”. The recentpost on social media by our own Patricia Mukhim, the Shillong Times Editor, delighted us so much that I set down my thoughts in brief columns right away. No doubt, the festival days in my city are a spectacular affair. Besides that, the weather has been very pleasant during this autumn festival. People explore the festive fervour during Puja with great fanfare.
After the terrible monsoon season, the roads and bridges are now in order, and the lights finally shine in the darkness. However, urban dwellers never thought that the city might aspire to the heights of a smart city someday. Potholes were repaired, and most of the roads got a facelift. Festivities don’t get stuck in a traffic jam. Probably, flyovers provide some respite from a stream of heavy traffic. Citygoers are full of praise for the administration’s seamless transportation and for making their city clean and tidy.
Surprisingly, no restrictions have been placed on the sale of liquor during the festival period. The district administration was widely criticized. Thus, Guwahati guzzles alcohol. There is absolutely no denying that drinking alcohol feels good at the moment. The sale really matters to the state, which is looking for ways to rejuvenate the economy, and Assam taxes liquor to help fill coffers. Yet consumers don’t mind paying taxes and living life to the fullest.
Besides all that, the residents face an incredible tale of rapid urbanisation, where settlements do not receive basic services such as drinking water and sanitation, let alone the provision of adequate water supply, healthcare, and food stamps that are necessary to sustain a basic standard of living. Poor mobility and air pollution are some of the complex challenges faced by city ecosystems, thereby jeopardising the urban public infrastructure and its services.
Traffic signs and road safety were observed to be of least concern on the road. The newly installed traffic light ITMS gives some discipline at intersections, though it sees a high level of impatience among motorists when it comes to complying with the red light. However, traffic light violations and overspeeding limits are on the rise due to the absence of 3D radar-based overspeed violation detection (OSVD) cameras and red light violation detection (RLVD) cameras.
Where is my city heading? Autorickshaws refuse to use the fare metre and instead charge higher fares that are not based on the metre reading. Unruly city buses are a bane of commuters on GS Road. The bus stops anywhere a commuter wishes to get in. Most bus waiting sheds are shabby and unsafe, have been turned into shelters for street dwellers, and are even occupied by vendors. Footpaths have been overrun, and nobody cares. Traffic police are silent spectators for not reporting traffic chaos on the motorways.
Commuters face a nightmarish experience on public transport. Never wonder when one side of the Dighaliphuri road was blocked for traffic and turned into vending zones. People are unfazed by such chaos on the road. The roads are littered with food waste, exposing commuters to unhygienic conditions as solid waste collection and transportation are not carried out in the wee hours of the day. Citizens’ concerns go unheard by the municipality.
The traffic violations in my city committed by most of the drivers pose a significant risk to road safety. The other day, I drove over very cautiously, facing reckless motorists on the new Zoo Road flyover, where they went overtaking the double solid line, which is assigned for a two-lane road. Should the authority install some cameras to catch those traffic violators? So does enforcing laws for safe driving. The government must increase traffic challan penalties for violators to promote responsible driving.
It appears that most Guwahati motorists are not aware of traffic signs and road markings. Aizawl has one of the most disciplined driving systems and becomes a silent city that hardly witnesses vehicles honking horns. Sikkim follows the odd-even system to reduce vehicle movement and improve traffic management in Gangtok. Also, Shillong follows the Odd-Even basis for issues of traffic congestion in the city’s busiest commercial areas.
Street lights are made for improved nighttime visibility. Hilly areas of the Shillong-Guwahati highways don’t require road lights. At least, it must get a glow from the lines of photoluminescent coverings that are naturally charged by sunlight. Alas! They are not adequate, but rather a shedding light on my city roads too. But I saw my city lit up over the flyovers and foot-over bridges for the beautification drive. Tree trunks and electrical posts are wrapped with outdoor lights. Outsiders may not find out the real woes of Guwahati. The brightness made me blink that day. Beyond all limits, my city, Guwahati, lit up once during Durga Puja.
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