Gangtok traffic – closed at one end, clogged at the other

GANGTOK, 18 Feb: Traffic moving at a snail’s pace has been bothering Gangtokians for the past week or so. Traffic snarls during peak office hours is routine on the highway, but over the past week, traffic has been particularly heavy and slow along Bhanupath, Tibet Road and the road upto Vajra Cinema. This has been due to the Namnang-Deorali road being closed as road repairs and carpeting works are underway there. As a result, all vehicles that enter MG Marg are also diverted to Bhanupath via Tibet Road or move through to Namnang and up Kazi Road and back into Bhanupath.

According to the Traffic Police, the road repair work will take another week to complete.

PI [Traffic], Pravin Lamichaney, agrees that the Namnang-Deorali road being closed has been causing traffic snarls elsewhere and highlights that the Traffic personnel have also been working extra hard to regulate traffic around town.

“Taxis making stops at inappropriate places like Hospital point further adds to the problem”, he adds.

“We would like to urge commuters to bear with us for some time. The Bye Pass road is now in good condition as it has been repaired and commuters can take that alternate route as well,” urged the PI.

It is also informed that the Namnang-Deorali road is being widened and when it re-opens the road might be made two-way. At present the road is one-way wherein vehicles can only come downhill towards Deorali during day time.

Calling for cooperation from the public in managing traffic better, he also appealed to the public not to park along the highways. Stressing upon the need for traffic awareness he said, “We give traffic awareness classes every Tuesday at SP East office, DAC from 9 30 am till 4 pm. Not just those applying for driving licenses but anyone can attend these classes”.