SHILLONG:
Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong on Friday informed that a blueprint to decongest Shillong has been prepared to ease the traffic congestion.
He told the Assembly that the state government has taken multi-disciplinary and integrated approach to tackle traffic congestion and improve the mobility and accessibility of Shillong city.
The state government conducted technical studies, integrated network planning and mobility gap assessment to understand the root cause.
“Based on this and inputs from various departments, a blueprint to decongest Shillong was prepared which has listed out short-, medium- and long-term interventions to ease traffic congestion,” Tynsong said while replying to a query raised by Nongthymmai legislator Charles Pyngrope (Congress).
He informed that a multi-departmental committee headed by the chief secretary called the Shillong Decongestion Committee has also been notified to monitor the progress of the intervention listed in the blueprint.
The committee has convened various meetings to monitor the progress.
The state government is also taking inputs from prestigious institutions like IIM Shillong, NIT Shillong and North Eastern Space Application Centre.
Some of the initiatives taken by the government are introduction of shared school buses, stricter enforcement and long-term improvement of road network capacity.
Highlighting the immediate measures taken to address the problem, Tynsong said that a shared school bus system is being introduced in the city. It is estimated that approximately 450 cars shall be removed from the street by this system during peak hours resulting in considerable time and cost saving.
The government has also prioritised augmentation of parking and road network capacity to cater to the increasing demand.
He said currently, more than 300+ equivalent car space parking is being added to the city.
“Government is also introducing 30 electric buses connecting major commercial, employment, educational and residential areas,” Tynsong said, adding that the buses initially shall ply in a 30-minute frequency, which will be reduced to 10–15 minutes in a phased manner in the identified routes.
With regards to the long-term measures, Tynsong said that the creation of the Shillong Western Bypass and expanding the Shillong Eastern Bypass and other roads will ease congestion further.
The state government, he informed, has decided to create an administrative city in the New Shillong Township wherein the Civil Secretariat and other government offices will be shifted, which should further clear roads in the city centre.
Identification of additional parking lots in the capital city, along with road expansion wherever possible, is also being pursued.