GUWAHATI: Guwahati’s traffic situation has deteriorated rapidly, causing commuters to suffer daily without respite. Despite numerous flyovers and alternative routes, the traffic in Guwahati now rivals that of Bengaluru and Delhi.
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GPlus conducted a poll on five different social media platforms, gathering responses from over 2,500 people. The question was simple: "Do you think Guwahati should follow the even-odd rule to ease traffic congestion?"
On X (formerly Twitter), over 250 people participated, with 52% saying yes, Guwahati needs an even-odd rule. However, 38.9% disagreed, believing the rule would not ease traffic congestion, and 9.1% were undecided.
On Instagram, the results were close, with 47% responding no and 45% responding yes.
On Thread and Facebook, the response was the opposite. While on Thread, 54% voted yes and 46% voted no, Facebook's 56% audience voted yes, and 40% voted no.
Nilanjan Das commented on Instagram, “The government should invest in better public transportation and educate people to drive sensibly instead of implementing such weird rules. How will a household with only one vehicle travel in case of an emergency?”
Another Instagram user, Nehal Jain, raised a concern, saying, “It would lead to people buying more vehicles than needed – at least one with an odd number and another with an even number. This wouldn’t reduce traffic congestion but would increase pollution due to the higher number of vehicles.”
Ishani Rajkhowa drew a parallel with Delhi’s even-odd rule implementation, saying, “The odd-even rule works in Delhi because of its good public transport system, including the affordable, comfortable, and convenient Delhi Metro. Guwahati lacks these facilities, so the rule would harass the working class who don’t own multiple cars, while the wealthy would continue to use their cars daily.”
Aashiyana Aazmin Hussain said, “Odd-even doesn’t solve the problem. Guwahati needs better roads and traffic rules.”
While talking to GPlus, a senior police official from Guwahati Traffic Department said, “We don’t have any plan to implement the even-odd rule in Guwahati, but yes if implemented the influx of vehicles will be less but then common people would face issues if this rule is implemented. Not every family own multiple cars with odd and even numbers.”
Although the poll responses provide a view of what Guwahati residents favor regarding traffic rules, many comments highlight the need for better enforcement of existing traffic regulations and road repairs.
