Guwahati traffic: A tale of mismanagement

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Guwahati is the gateway to the Northeast. However, traffic management in the metropolitan city is out of sync with the increasing traffic flow.

Over two lakh vehicles ply on various roads in the city daily. Since the traffic management in the city is not up to the mark, frequent traffic congestion is still a real headache for visitors, let alone local commuters in the city.

The city has around 49 signalized traffic points. However, most of them are lying defunct. The traffic police switched off the lights of some of the signalized traffic points due to the mismatch between the duration of lighting and traffic congestion. Updating the signalized traffic points in the city under the smart city project has been a buzzword for the past four years.

Another major problem in Guwahati is that some traffic police personnel are not sincere in their duty at traffic points. A casual approach like gossiping while on duty is often visible. The strength of traffic police personnel in Guwahati is adequate. The problem, however, is that the number of sincere personnel is less. A few years back, a flying traffic police squad was active with bikes in the city. It did clear traffic snarls instantly when traffic congestions came to their notice. That is history now. City buses are one of the troublemakers in traffic management in Guwahati. The traffic police have failed to discipline the drivers and other crew members of such buses.

Seized vehicles lying in front of police stations blocking portions of the city roads are a real eyesore in Guwahati. A few months back, the police did identify a plot of land in the Boragaon area to dump the abandoned vehicles and bikes lying in front of various police stations. However, abandoned cars still lie inside and outside police station premises. The Dispur Police Station is a glaring example. The police station attached to the state State Secretariat looks like a godown. An abandoned Assam-Type structure meant for Secretariat employees houses the capital police station for years.

The department modernized several police stations in the state under the police modernization scheme. However, several police stations are still in their ramshackle looks.

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