GUWAHATI: Heavy traffic congestion brought parts of the city to a standstill on Monday, February 3, as devotees and students stepped out to celebrate Saraswati Puja. Major roads, including GS Road, B. Borooah Road, Fancy Bazaar, and Ulubari, saw long tailbacks, with vehicles moving at a snail’s pace for hours.
ALSO READ: India's Badminton Players To Train At Guwahati’s NCE
Many commuters found themselves stuck in gridlocked traffic, leading to frustration. Talking to GPlus, Jyotirmoy Kakoti, a daily commuter on GS Road said, "I was stuck near Ulubari for almost half an hour. This is really frustrating.”
Another commuter, who was traveling through B. Borooah Road, faced an even longer delay. “I went to Fancy Bazaar and was stuck on GS Road for more than an hour. The congestion was unbearable,” he said.
Priya Das, a private employee, said, “I left my house early, but I was still late to work. The situation was so bad that even auto-rickshaws and buses were struggling to move.”
Rahul Dutta, a shopkeeper in Paltan Bazaar also said,“ Festivals always bring extra traffic, but today was worse. Customers couldn’t even reach our shops because of the congestion. Business was affected.”
The Guwahati Traffic Police acknowledged the situation, attributing the jams to haphazard parking and increased vehicle movement.
A senior traffic official told GPlus, “Because many vehicles have come out and parked randomly, there is congestion. We have fined several vehicles for parking on the road.”
The onus needs to be on the authorities and the commuters both to create a situation for easy flow of traffic to minimise nuisance.