GUWAHATI, Sept 24 - With the advent of the festive season, heavy traffic congestion on all major roads of the city and throughout the day has become regular from the past few days.
In the central part of the city, in particular, traffic congestion has turned severe with the construction of a new flyover being under way at Ganeshguri. Moreover, in various parts of the city, modification of dividers and footpaths has also contributed to worsening the scenario.
As a remedy, the authorities concerned have taken several steps, yet the situation has not shown any improvement.
The increasing number of defunct streetlights and traffic signal lights in many important locations of the city has also become a major worry for the city police.
According to a source, senior officials of Guwahati police have raised the matter before the Commissioner of Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) and urged him to address the issue at the earliest.
On the other hand, talking to The Assam Tribune, GMC Commissioner Debeswar Malakar said, �We have already surveyed the defunct streetlights as well as the traffic signal points. The survey was carried out during both day and night hours and we aim to get all those lights repaired before Durga Puja.�
Meanwhile, senior official of the district transport department Bapan Kalita, informing about the initiatives taken by his department to reduce traffic congestion, said, �We have changed the route for around 100 city buses plying between Panjabari and Jalukbari and diverted them through VIP road via Narengi and Noonmati, with the aim to reduce the traffic load at Ganeshguri.�
The district transport department has also started introducing the time-card system in the city buses of Guwahati to reduce traffic congestion and avert accidents.
�Guwahati has altogether 22 routes for city buses and it will take time to introduce time-cards on all these routes. We are working step by step and involving the association of city bus owners in implementing the initiative,� Kalita said.
