Well, not a good article to write about, and that too against the place where I have being brought up and where my old child hood memories still run fresh. Should I consider myself unlucky to have written this, or what? But I can’t stop myself after seeing all these. What I present is a bird’s eye view of the chaos that is prevailing in the streets of Guwahati, Assam, where honking horns, traffic jams and accidents have now become the part and parcel of every Guwahatian.
But the question is, whom to blame. Government or the people? Let us put the words in a different way, from a third person’s perspective.
When one walk along the streets of Guwahati, what one notice more, footpaths or potholes or the ever going construction/renovation of the footpaths? Where will the common people walk?
Drivers have forgotten the very basics of driving. I think they should be sent to the driving school to do the basics right which includes lane driving and the reading signal boards. The very good example is that when one sees people parking their vehicles just besides the “No Parking Zone”, honk where is “No Horn” sign board and zoom pass when there are speed restrictions. That’s where basics comes into. Overtaking from the left side, driving in a zig zag manner can all be witness in the streets. Pillion riders are seldom seen wearing helmets, though there are lots of hoardings stating it’s necessity. There is always the urgency to reach the destination, not sure why that is true for everyone.
And the best what I witness, was city buses stopping in the middle of traffic signal and picking up travelers. The driver would not move until the bus is full. Sometimes it seemed that they would call people from the houses to board in. Common-on give a break, have some common sense.
One sees all sorts of vehicles in the road, ir-respective of whether that is main road or a connecting one. It does not matter. It just adds to the over whelming chaos.
Government also has some short comings. It’s projection towards the future is some what very less, almost negligible. Government should plan its project’s accordingly so that it could at lease sustain a minimum of 25-20 yrs. Projects are being carried out and by the tine it comes into reality, problems seemed to have multiplied in folds. Alternatives should be thought of before any implementation so to minimize the inconvenience caused to the public. One more factor to add is the bribe factor. Traffic rules are being violated left and right, but how many have of them has being imposed a fine. How much money has gone to the exchequer? Hardly any. Government Officers as well as the common user ar every happy to by-pass this and pay a small sum to the official, keeping both of them happy. Is this the way?
Rules are rules and they are made for the interest of the common public and it should not be implemented differently to a special class of people and differently to the other class. Government should be strong and potent enough in implementing the rules.
I don’t have any offense with any one of them, but it just projects a bad picture to the outside world and being an `Axomiya`, I too feel the pinch.
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