Traffic congestion in Silchar partly due to irresponsible parking, writes Dr Debashish Sharma

June 17: Traffic congestion in Silchar is getting worse day by day. It has almost become a daily phenomenon to observe vehicles stuck in long traffic jams, particularly during school and office hours. While several factors are responsible for this problem, one factor that is often ignored is the irresponsibility shown by people in driving and parking their vehicles on the road.

Further, the traffic rules are not imposed strictly here in Silchar, because of which people have become totally careless in following the same. The absence of proper parking lots is also a major problem that leads to traffic congestion. However, the most irritating thing to see on the road is the careless way in which people park their vehicles. The roads near schools are the worst affected because of such irresponsible parking.

It is really unfortunate to see people parking their vehicles here and there on the road, even if there are proper empty spaces to park. Like any other weekday, a regular traffic congestion happened in Sonai Road near two popular schools on 17 June, 2022 at around 10:30 am. Unable to tolerate the nuisance, I parked my bike in a proper place and managed to click a few photos to document some proof of the irresponsible nature of the people in Silchar. Such scenes are common almost everywhere in Silchar. We need strict implementation of traffic rules in order to tackle such behaviour.

The neighbouring state of Mizoram can be taken as an example of the highest level of  discipline shown by the people on road. I stayed in Aizwal for a month in 2018 and was so inspired by the unique traffic discipline and no-honking culture that I have been riding my bike without a horn since the last four years, strictly obeying the traffic rules.

We usually blame the administration and police for the traffic congestion but have we ever asked ourselves whether we follow the rules of the road ? As an ordinary citizen, we may not be able to bring about drastic change in the road condition or parking infrastructure of the town but we can definitely contribute our best to ease the traffic by obeying the traffic rules and avoiding parking at incorrect positions and places.

The district administration and traffic branch should also impose strict adherence to traffic rules for building up traffic discipline among the people of the town. We should always remember that a single wrongly parked vehicle can totally disrupt the normal flow of vehicular traffic. As responsible citizens, it should be our duty to do judicious parking so that other vehicles do not get stuck because of us.

*Dr Debashish Sharma is Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, GC College, Silchar.