Traffic Congestion Irks Guwahati City Residents

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 1: Guwahati city normal life comes to a standstill every day at GMC Ward No. 13 near Silpukhuri due to traffic congestion that lasts close to an hour during the busy hours of the day. The area generally remains crowded right from 9 am till 10 pm. According to the residents of the locality, during office hours, people remain stuck in the traffic jam and have to spend hours to cover this mere 1.5-km stretch. The same happens between 6 pm and 8 pm.

The 1.5-km stretch of Maniram Dewan Road from Gauhati Club to the Nabagraha point that is within Silpukhuri has converted into a bottle-neck for vehicles coming from both Ulubari and Ambari via Gauhati Club and from RG Baruah Road and Noonmati via Chandmari.

If one travels from Gauhati Club towards Chandmari, while the right side of the Maniram Dewan Road falls under Ward No 13, the other side which is also called Silpukhuri falls in Ward No 12. That apart, while most of the wards in Guwahati city are more or less satisfied with the garbage collection - a service that is provided by the GMC through NGOs - Ward No 13 has set a new low standard for itself.

“The NGOs are more involved in collecting garbage on the other side of the Sarania Hill that is South Sarania and Lachit Nagar, while on this side, they come irregularly”, a resident said.

Traffic congestion and lapses in garbage collection, however, aren’t the only woes for the residents as the ward is plagued by lack of proper water supply, pest control measures, streetlights, public toilets and parking spaces. They also complained of frequent load shedding.

However, people expressed that a few by-lanes have certain broken stretches while the main road and the major arteries are more or less up to the mark. The survey revealed that of the 26 persons who gave negative response to the road condition, 15 (30 per cent) termed it to be of bad quality while 11 others said that the roads are of good quality.