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Kathmandu Tuesday January 08, 2002 Paush 24, 2058.
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Traffic next
It took the SAARC summit for the Valley Traffic
Police Office (VTPO) to come up with ingenious measures for bringing the capital’s
notorious traffic onto the right track. But this in all probability will be a temporary
phenomenon. Thanks to the Herculean efforts of the VTPO, the dignitaries and diplomats of
South Asia cruised smoothly down the capital’s freshly black-topped streets. But all
was not well along the street sides and in the side streets. Long, winding lines of
vehicles of all kinds were held back in the alleys, and at times pedestrians were also not
spared. The ordeal of the commuters had to be experienced to be felt. Vicarious experience
alone will not provide the right picture. With the regional summit now over, the commuters
will breathe a sigh of relief, but only to be thrown back into the usual traffic chaos.
Yet traffic woes will soon melt away for good if better sense prevails among the traffic
police.
On the eve of the regional jamboree, VTPO
devised and successfully implemented in Kathmandu Valley a novel system which received
overwhelming public support, claim the authorities. Plans are also afoot to give
continuity to the traffic austerity measures that kept about half of vehicles off the
streets. Under the new system, vehicles with even number plates run on the roads on even
number dates, while those with odd number plates roll out on the odd number days. This
simple number device, much used in other countries to keep traffic congestion manageable,
was indeed commendable. But the much-hyped novel scheme for the valley might be
short-lived. To their consternation, the public will have to bid farewell to this system
along with the SAARC summit since no official announcement has yet come out about giving
it a longer life. All in all, due to frequent changes in traffic routes and a dearth of
public transportation, the SAARC summit caused much pain and little pleasure to people
from almost all walks of life. The price of vegetables and daily essentials shot up
overnight, and this had much to do with the traffic restrictions in the days preceding the
summit.
Relieving the valley’s traffic tensions is
by no means an easy task. This is a gargantuan headache that calls for comprehensive and
scientific measures. But small beginnings have great endings, and perhaps this is an
opportune moment, with the summit time traffic experience still fresh and vivid, to sift
through an array of traffic related grievances and introduce regulations to address them
effectively. And giving continuity to the odd and even number plates system could be a
wise start. Given the fact that our traffic authorities can work so energetically and
produce results in such a short span of time, it only requires a little more dedication
and a little bit of extra resources to hold down the ever growing traffic volume and give
commuters their place under the sun. In doing so, the environment will also be an
immediate beneficiary. The level of pollution and accidents can be cut down considerably
as a larger part of the environment hazard has been attributed to toxins emanating from
vehicles. Urban life will be much better, faster and more convenient, if urban planners
and traffic authorities are able to tame the road traffic so that it will no longer be a
jungle out there. |
