.....but traffic is still in mess
- Imphal Times Editorial :: October 31 2018 -
Time and again many newspaper published in the state has been highlighting the problems being faced by the people due to the unorganised manner of the traffic regulation in the city.
Meeting of the Traffic Regulations and Parking Committee (TRPC) meeting convened by the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh some months back turns out to be another publicity stunned as nothing has been changed.
It is over 3 months now and the so call concern government officials still could not find any solution to solve the traffic woes in the city.
Perhaps these government employees are either not that qualified enough or outdated or perhaps they don’t care about what the Chief Minister wanted them to do to make people comfortable while walking or driving in the roads of Imphal city.
Everyone knows that Imphal city and of course neighbouring district head quarters towns have been witnessing a phenomenal increase in the amount of vehicles.
This may be an indication of the rising social status of the public and improving economic conditions in the state.
While improving economic conditions of the people of the state are a welcome sign, the fact remains that the concerned authorities have failed to keep pace with the times and the changing social scenario in the state resulting in heavy traffic jams and delays which needs to be addressed immediately.
The short term policies and systems being implemented from time to time in an attempt to ease the congestions and traffic jams have not been able to alleviate the problem in any way, on the contrary these ad-hoc measures have managed to confuse the public and compound the problem the authorities have been trying to solve.
The meeting of Traffic regulation and parking committee convened by the chief Minister N. Biren Singh has not been of much helpfor reason best known to the concern government authority.
Queries put up to the concerned departments have only resulted in more bewildering responses- a classic example of the effectiveness of passing the buck around that has been at work in all government set ups.
While formulation of policies and systems to control and regulate traffic may be a beginning in the right direction, the fact remains that the increasing number of vehicles need additional space to accommodate them and juggling acts of the traffic system by the experts, however efficient and experienced they may be, will not bear fruit.
Construction of additional parking spaces at strategic locations, bypasses and flyovers, and most importantly providing subways at important and crowded junctions will go a long way in reducing these problems.
Construction of public utilities does not automatically guarantee improvement- their proper usage is as important- an obvious example being the use of footpaths by the vendors and shopkeepers to stock and ply their goods forcing the pedestrians to walk on the road.
The need to streamline and re-orient the traffic police personnel is also being felt by the public.
Turning a blind eye to the irregularities being committed by the drivers of various public and commercial transport vehicles in consideration for a “quick handshake” has been well documented- despite the dangers and inconveniences such greedy acts causes.
The present government ministers and high ranking officials may not be feeling the burden such traffic jams causes as they seem to have a prerogative of the right of use of the road over the common public but unless some concrete steps are taken up very soon, the only option that would be available to them would be to use their feet with their retinue of escorts and assistants wading through the impossible traffic- surely a distracting relief for the stranded common public on the road.
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