Pooling for free roads
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: May 08, 2014 -

Dealing with traffic congestion, AIR Imphal shows the way :: Pix - Hueiyen Lanpao

At a time when commuting on the roads of Imphal city has come a nightmarish experience for all mainly from ever increasing number of vehicles and poor traffic management, the initiative taken up by the staffs of All India Radio (AIR), Imphal to travel together in a hired van while coming to the office and returning home after work needs to be not just appreciated but also encouraged.

It is not that these AIR staffs do not have vehicles of their own or can’t afford to buy one for themselves.

But instead of driving their own cars to go to the office, they have thought it wiser to hire a van for travelling together to and fro and thus avoid the daily ordeal of getting caught in the traffic snarls. In the process, they have been able to contribute their mite towards reducing the problem of traffic congestion on the roads of Imphal.

By keeping away their cars from the narrow and busy roads of Imphal and freeing themselves from stressful driving, the AIR staffs would also be able to save not just their hard earned money that would have spent on fuel but their precious time as well and at the same time help in reducing their carbon footprint, and thus protection of the environment.

Fewer cars on the road simply mean less noise and air pollution, including carbon emissions that contribute largely to the climate change. So, if staffs in other Government departments as well as private firms follow suit this noble example, then one could surely see a change for the better on the roads of Imphal.

Although we may have gone all gung-ho over the initiative taken up by the staffs of AIR Imphal and made a headline story out of it, pooling together or sharing a hired van or private car while going to work places is a concept already well-known and employed for reducing traffic congestion and pollution in other developed countries of the world.

After it first became prominent in the United States as a rationing tactic during World War II, the idea soon spread to the rest of Europe and Asia where even local authorities and private companies join the effort by introducing various programmes to encourage car or van-pooling, though they may give different names to the concept.

Of late, the idea has slowly picked up in major metropolitan cities of India like Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, etc, where increased flow in disposal income of the youths and middle class families has literally spilled over to the roads in form of fancy cars, thus, resulting in frequent traffic jams and chaos everywhere.

The popularity of car or van-pooling services in these metropolitan cities is such that RidingO, a Bangalore-based car pooling service agency or SmartMumbaikar of Mumbai, which have already done wonder in providing traffic-hassle free services to many working professionals in respective cities of their operation are even thinking of expanding their winds to other neighbouring cities.

With wide spread use of internet and mobile phones making it even more easier for the agencies to arrange car-pooling services now-a-days, perhaps, it is high time for enterprising but employed educated youths in Manipur to think on this line, not just for ensuring their livelihood but also doing a great service to the society by making the road free from traffic congestions.