Manipur’s Traffic, Parking and Driving: A Big Nuisance

By – Marjing Mayanglambam
For such an economically weak state like Manipur, it is a surprise to see the huge growth in the number of personal vehicles ranging from scooters to huge cars. Every household has at least more than 2 vehicles following the number of adults living in the house. We tend to neglect the use of public transport, thinking that it is not convenient enough for our most important work/jobs. Also, our government’s emphasis on the development of public transport is little to none. Most of the drivers are not trained properly about traffic rules and etiquette. Hence the way we drive is reckless almost every time and even those who get pieces of training do not naturally follow the rules and become part of the untrained lots.
The traffic rules are not strong enough to scare the drivers. There is always a way to escape the traffic police and rules. The government and the citizens are both indulging in the wrong way when it comes to following traffic rules. There is a strong need to enforce stricter rules and further focus on educating the public on how to be a responsible driver. Having neat traffic won’t only improve our state’s deprived image but will also increase the safety of the public, both drivers and pedestrians. I believe that a change can be easily brought if both the rule enforcers and rule followers work together without any hindrances.
Let me share some cases of nuisances which I and many others have faced in Manipur:
Among many schools, Little Flower School and Nirmalabas School are the ones which cause a lot of traffic problems. Yes, they are known for their academic excellence but when it comes to traffic responsibility they have failed tremendously. Does Little Flower School own the road highway in front of them? Does Nirmalabas School have jurisdiction over MG Avenue? Because of their huge number of vans to transport their vast number of students, the road gets occupied to a level where other vehicles can’t commute easily and get stuck for a long time. These schools need to think and act fast and make sure that their educational business does not cause further problems for the traffic.
People who live by the highway have this habit of blocking the road when they want to have a ceremony or ritual. This kind of nuisance should be banned by the local authority or the government because one’s celebration/event should not hinder the public’s property. They should hire a community hall for their events and be a responsible citizen. Also, people tend to park without thinking much about how their way of parking might affect the traffic. For instance, double parking on a small road. Manipur’s big infrastructures both government and non-government do not have proper parking spaces. Either it is not a plan of the building structure, or it is just common knowledge that we are to park in any space available.
In the end, we will be the ones who suffer because of our lack of traffic knowledge and awareness. It is best time we change our outdated mindsets and try to be a more responsible citizen and follow our traffic system with sincere honesty.