What steps to address traffic chaos ? Madness on the road
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: November 13 2018 -
The Government must have taken note of it. It however remains what steps it will take to address the question at hand.
And if not addressed soon it may morphed from a question or issue to a problem.
It may not yet be a problem as such when compared to what is happening in some of the metros of the country, but a drive through the roads of Imphal at any point of time will tell the story of how it has become a nightmarish experience.
In fact situation has come to such a pass that there does not seem to be such a thing as rush hour, for practically all roads in Imphal are choc-a-bloc with vehicles every minute.
This is where a scientific approach to deal with the growing traffic is highly felt.
Unfortunate it is but in the last 10-15 years not much importance seems to have been given to the question of how to deal with the growing traffic volume.
A case in point is situating the ISBT plum in the heart of Imphal at Khuman Lampak, a case not seen in any other capital city of the country.
The number of vehicles has multiplied, but there has been no corresponding increase in the width of the roads at Imphal.
Different auto companies coming out with more and more models each year is more than enough indication that there is no dearth of buyers, even in a small place like Imphal.
With banks and other financial institutions more than willing to forward car loans, owning a car or a four wheeler is today no longer the dream of only the moneyed class but for anyone who has some sort of an income.
Gone are the days when only a family or two could be seen owning a four wheeler in a Leikai and this is underlined by the fact that many Leiraks are today choc-a-bloc with vehicles.
Unsavoury to note too that there has been no corresponding increase in the traffic sense of the people.
Number of vehicles increasing at a rapid pace, no increase in the width of roads and a mentality which refuses to acknowledge that one should not think of only oneself but for all the other motorists and pedestrians all go together to script the confusion that one sees everyday on the roads of Imphal.
Put in a Government which has refused to look beyond Imphal and here is the perfect situation for the traffic chaos that one sees all over the place.
Apart from ring roads, fly overs and other routes that may come up, there is the growing need for the Government to crack the whip and come down hard on all those who violate traffic rules and regulations.
Let zebra crossings have a meaning.
Why is it that vehicles coming from a certain direction when asked to stop, so that vehicles coming from the opposite end can pass through, always cross the zebra crossing and half crowd the other side of the road thereby impeding the free flow of vehicles ?
Why hasn’t it sunk into the heads of all that impeding the free flow of vehicles from the other side will invariably delay them too ?
These are basic traffic sense that needs to be drilled into everyone and the first step towards this should be heavy and stiff penalty.
Impound the driving license of the drivers who cross the zebra crossing. Impose heavy fines.
The situation is all that more acute when the wedding season kicks in.
Now with the Sangai Festival scheduled to kick off from November 21, one may expect more traffic snarls and confusion in the days ahead
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