[ Bengia Ajum ]
ITANAGAR, 1 Aug: “Last night, after witnessing heavy traffic jam upto Sango village in between Itanagar and Naharlagun, I returned to Itanagar. I waited till midnight for the traffic to clear, in order to go to my home in Naharlagun,” said Tana Jasap Tara, a resident of Naharlagun.
This sums up the traffic woes facing the people of the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR). Naharlagun is facing serious traffic congestion. Just to cover a stretch of a few kilometres, at times it takes hours. The terrible traffic congestion along with the pathetic condition of the road from Papu Nallah to Nirjuli has made life miserable for the residents.
In recent days, the traffic woes have worsened in Naharlagun area. “On Monday, I was stuck in traffic for 4.5 hours. This is the amount of time it took me to reach from Itanagar to my home in Naharlagun,” said Likha Chadha, a resident of Naharlagun.
The large potholes on the stretch between Papu Nallah and Model Village have further added to the problem. “These potholes slow down the traffic. Also, people recklessly park their vehicles on the road, and some drivers do not follow traffic etiquettes, which further causes traffic congestion. Getting stuck in traffic for hours is very frustrating and the authorities seriously need to address this issue. Our patience is running out,” said a resident of Itanagar.
The traffic situation in the ICR is so bad that people now do not dare to visit the capital. “I get anxious whenever I visit the ICR because of traffic and bad roads. I am so used to living in the district towns,” said Moji Padu, a government employee posted in the district.
The opening of the Borum-helipad bridge road was expected to ease traffic congestion, but things have not changed much. Now there is growing demand for early opening of the railway bridge at Lekhi. “It was announced that the two-lane railway bridge to connect the Yupia railway station with Lekhi will be ready for use by August. Hope the authorities will open this bridge at the earliest. It will definitely help to reduce traffic congestion in Naharlagun,” said Sanjay Mosing, a resident of Naharlagun.
The constant traffic congestion in Naharlagun is making residents deeply angry with the government. “This traffic issue is not something new. The situation has worsened in recent months. But the government is very much aware of the situation. It looks like they are least bothered and have left it to the citizens to fend for themselves. This is honestly very frustrating,” said a resident.
With public anger brewing over traffic issues and bad roads, ICR Deputy Commissioner Talo Potom has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday to discuss the issue. “We will discuss the progress of Package B, which is from Papu Nallah to Nirjuli, and also focus on traffic issues concerning Naharlagun. The Naharlagun SP, the ICR Traffic SP, the Naharlagun EAC, the PWD executive engineer, and the general manager of TK Engineering Consortium Limited will attend the meeting,” Potom told this daily.
The PWD highway claimed that, once the project is handed over to the contractor, it becomes the prerogative of the contractor to keep the road hindrance-free and comfortable riding under the EPC contract agreement.
“Time and again we remind them to maintain the road, which they assure but they never keep the assurance. We also feel awkward seeing the present condition of the road. Everyone is dragging our department on this issue, but the fact is, as per the EPC mode, we don’t have much of a role unless the road is handed over to us on behalf of the MoRTH after completion,” said a PWD highway official.
