Do traffic police in Guwahati care about the common man?

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Often, a question arises in the minds of the people as to whether the Guwahati traffic police are really concerned about the smooth flow of traffic at some of the city's important points. The scene at Chandmari traffic point at midday today gives credence to this question.

On Friday, a reporter of The Sentinel was present at the Chandmari traffic point for about 10-15 minutes. During that time, it was noticed that not a single traffic policeman was there to control the movement of vehicular traffic. The point being an important junction, with one road going to Noonmati, one towards RG Baruah Road and another towards Guwahati Club, it was beyond belief that such a point would remain unmanned by the traffic police. Luckily, the volume of vehicular traffic was considerably lower at that time, at around noon today. It seemed that the onus of negotiating the point was left in the hands of God, the drivers of the vehicles and the pedestrians crossing the road.

It needs to be mentioned that the construction of the flyover from Noonmati to Dighalipukhuri has been causing innumerable problems for the people, from vehicular movement to dust and pollution. Due to the construction activity, the Chandmari point is now devoid of traffic lights. This further necessitates the presence of a traffic cop there. But the scene at that point today leads to the assumption that the Guwahati traffic police are least bothered about facilitating the movement of vehicles belonging to the common man.

Another question plaguing the city's denizens is whether the traffic police are more bothered about the movement of VVIP convoys or the people's vehicles. It is generally seen that traffic police are present all along the road at any time of the day or night when a convoy accompanying a VVIP is about to pass through that route.

The scene witnessed today at the Chandmari traffic point was no exception; such absence of traffic personnel is often seen at other important points like the Six Mile junction, Ganeshguri, Beltola Tiniali and other places.

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