Immediate and long term measures planned to decongest Gangtok traffic

KUNAL RAI

GANGTOK,: Gangtok senior SP Tenzing Loden Lepcha on Friday shared the major takeaways of the online survey conducted by Gangtok District Police to identify reasons for traffic congestion in the capital town besides seeking feedback from the public.

The ‘Gangtok Traffic Improvement Survey’ which commenced from September 16 had a participation of around 2,000 citizens responding to the twenty questions related to traffic problems and solutions.

It was informed that there are 1.11 lakh registered vehicles in Sikkim and among them, around 74,000 are Gangtok-registered vehicles.

Our top priority is that the highway is operational and one person travelling from Ranipool reaches Gangtok town within 50-60 minutes, said the senior SP.

Around 100 traffic police personnel are deployed daily at various identified locations along the highway starting from Zero Point till Ranipool to ensure smooth traffic flow.

“As per the AI data from September 2 to 4 regarding the movement of vehicles along the NH 10 in 24 hours comes to 13,700 vehicles and at Hospital Dara specific point, during peak hours (from 8 am to noon) is recorded to the tune of 7,000 vehicles. The percentage of vehicles that was recorded plying is 12% government vehicles, 23% private vehicles and 65% are taxis,” said Lepcha.

The major concerns expressed by the citizens in the survey were the high density of vehicles, illegal parking and poor road conditions.

The senior SP informed that there are around 77 taxi stands operating in Gangtok. “Now we plan to develop a marking system which will allow only 2-3 vehicles to be present at one time at the stand so as to avoid congestion along the highway. The new system will be implemented soon and consultation with the taxi stands’ executives has already been done,” he said.

“Similarly there are many feeder roads where vehicle parking can be done with proper timing in place. We appeal to the vehicle owners to strictly follow the parking timing,” said Lepcha. He also requested the parents who are dropping or picking up their children from the schools to park their vehicles in a single designated lane so that traffic remains open.

Solutions – immediate, mid and long term – have been planned following the survey and suggestions. Issue of bad roads and strengthening feeder roads would be taken up from October.

The senior SP informed that the Police Headquarters has issued 12 body cameras for the traffic police that will be operational shortly and sensitization of traffic police personnel on public speaking skills will also be done.

“Under the long term mitigation plan, we are suggesting that all the stands of ‘J’ vehicles including buses be developed at Ranipool so that the route to Gangtok is smooth. There are possibilities of development of flyovers at some locations in Gangtok but for this, experts have to make studies and plans have to be worked upon. There is an expert national-level NGO who will visiting the capital town soon to carry out studies and furnish a plan that is feasible at the ground level for smooth traffic flow,” said Lepcha.

The senior SP highlighted that the pace in which the vehicles are on the rise in Gangtok is alarming. “At the present rate, the number of vehicles in Gangtok district alone by 2029 will be more than that of the entire State as of now. There are 1.1 lakh registered vehicles in the State but by 2029, Gangtok district alone will have 1.18 lakh vehicles,” he said.

Lepcha further urged the government employees to plan their office going hours well in advance so there is no need for overtaking during peak hours hindering traffic movement.

The conference was also attended by additional SP (Traffic) Pravin Lamichaney and DSP (Traffic) Bimal Gurung.