Poor traffic magement in Dibrugarh results in traffic woes for people

From a

Correspondent

Dibrugarh, Jan 11: Civic life has been pushed into a state of chaos due to heavy traffic congestion in almost all main and arterial roads of the town. The situation has turned into such an impasse that passersby often lodged complain either to the district administration or traffic department with an earnest appeal to mend the same immediately. An investigation done by The Sentinel has revealed the deplorable condition of traffic magement in Dibrugarh. The rrow roads of the town area coupled with a lack of civic sense among many of its residents have been the prime factors behind the present unfortute state of affairs.

The town has not witnessed the widening of its roads in several decades. This has resulted, along with the concept of garage being absent, in the private vehicle owners parking their vehicles in front of their residence, in sheer nonchalance of the fact that their private possessions are parked partially on the public roads, thereby hindering the normal movement of traffic. Moreover, due to lack of parking spaces, the people visiting the market area also park their vehicles in the desigted so-called ‘parking zones’ – these zones are being carved out of the roads, and are therefore turning them rrower. Such situations can be best observed in busy places like HS Road and RKB Path, as well as residential areas like Loharpatty , Khaliamari,. There has also been a steep rise in the number of vehicles in the town. With a rise in income and living standards, almost everyone owns a vehicle today. Given such conditions, things are only moving out of the frying pan into the fire.

Another problem that has gained ground recently is the people erecting ‘No Parking’ boards in front of their residence or office establishments. By doing this, they are indirectly claiming to be the owners of those public areas, whereas as a matter of fact, it is illegal and offensive for a private individual or party to claim such ownership and bar anyone from parking their vehicles on public roads. This problem takes an uglier shape when private nursing homes do the same. These hospitals tend to reserve parking space for their doctors outside their premises, depriving the patients and their attendants of the same. Although several warnings have been issued by the District Administration to such nursing homes, it seems that the admonitions have fallen on deaf ears.

This brings us to something very crucial. One may now get tempted to ask as to why bodies like the Dibrugarh Development Authority (DDA) and Municipality allow anyone to build houses or private offices without taking into consideration whether the applicants had made parking provisions within their premises. Are not these authorities, by giving out permission, putting the already adverse traffic condition of Dibrugarh at further risk? Do they realize that such an attitude can lead to a rise in accidents? The unplanned and srled traffic situation has definitely become a cause of concern for the residents of Dibrugarh. The government must take note of this problem and nip it in the bud. However, the people of the town, especially the youth and upstarts, should also develop some civic sense. It has been seen that they end up parking their vehicles in a rather careless manner. In a state of urgency, they choose to turn a blind eye to the severe inconvenience that their actions might cause to the fellow commuters or the general public. Such an outlook should be done away with and traffic laws and rules should be adhered to. The traffic department, apart from occasiolly charging pelty for not wearing helmets or not carrying required documents, is not doing much either. Cases of uuthorized parking should be strictly dealt with. Methods like towage – a means to thwart illegal parking – should be used more frequently. Having said that, most importantly, the government must consider widening the roads and construction of parking lots to solve the traffic problem as well as prevent the road mishaps.