Addressing traffic chaos in Imphal : Regulate not ban entry !
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 12 2018 -

The issue needs to be seen from both sides. With the Government deciding to restrict the entry of auto-rickshaws and Tata Magic vans into Imphal or rather the main commercial areas of the capital, the Joint Administrative Council of All Manipur Under Five Tone Passenger Service has decided to go off the road for 48 hours from May 14 midnight to protest the decision of the Government.

There can be no argument over the huge traffic chaos created by auto-rickshaws and Tata Magic vans, but yet at the same time it stands that all the auto-drivers and Tata Magic van drivers feed their family and educate their children from their earnings as taxi drivers and restricting their entry into Imphal city will amount to robbing their livelihood.

This is a point which cannot be dismissed under any circumstance and if one may add, the service rendered by the auto-drivers too should be noted.

Apart from keeping the hearth of the auto-drivers burning, it also stands that the service of the auto-rickshaws also ensures the livelihood of thousands of vendors who come to Imphal to sell their produce, either fish or farm products.

This is a point which should not be forgotten by the Government. What is then the way forward.

As suggested by a good doctor, via Facebook, the Government may seriously look into working out a model wherein all the routes of auto-rickshaws can be evolved into shuttle service.

Stoppage points/pick up points can mapped at strategic areas inside the municipality area and the shuttle can be timed at 5 mins/10 mins/15 mins intervals.

This way the number of auto-rickshaws coming into Imphal can be limited, without banning their entry.

The good doctor further suggested that all auto-rickshaws be made to park outside the city limits as the shuttle service will ensure that parking inside Imphal is not necessary.

It is also understood that the good doctor has tagged the suggestion to Chief Minister N Biren and while it is not clear if the Chief Minister has had the time to go through the suggestions, it may help if the suggestions are forwarded to officers responsible for traffic management in Imphal.

It is also right for all the aut-rickshaw drivers to come to the realisation that their haphazard driving and parking style has also added a lot to the traffic nightmare that one encounters daily on the roads of Imphal.

Overtaking from the left, suddenly stopping to pick up a passenger or two, clogging all the roads by parking their vehicles haphazardly all over, refusing to stop at the zebra crossing when signalled to do so by the traffic cops on duty are all scripts for the traffic chaos that one sees daily on the roads of Imphal.

This is a point which all auto drivers should seriously study. No wonder then that to many motorists in Imphal the auto-rickshaws have become the most vile thing to be seen on the road !

Addressing the traffic chaos on the roads of Imphal is central to the decision of the State Government to ban the entry of auto-rickshaws inside the commercial areas of Imphal and while the concern of the State Government is noted, it would also do good to study why all business activities have to be concentrated only at Paona Keithel, Thangal Keithel, BT Road etc.

Spreading out Imphal is also another way to tackle the traffic chaos in the capital.