Narrow Roads plzzzz

As the debate continues, whether Republic Day still has its flavor or has mere turned into a holiday? Well brushing aside all the debates, I enjoyed this R-day at Shimla by watching the grand parade on television (of course with all pride after witnessing the armed forces parade and breaking down after watching the bravery of Ashok chakra awardees).

But this R-day made me ponder another aspect. As I was in Shimla, I was amazed with the traffic sense the drivers have there. Moreover, with policemen standing after every 100 metres, jamming or over taking wrongly was out of question.

The police presence may be due to Shimla being Himachal’s capital. However, all the drivers respected lanes, were very particular about giving signals and stood before zebra lines. We were zapped after being reprimanded for not giving signal and believe me the warning came from policemen, who generally don’t care for what motorists do at least in Amritsar.

The roads, though winding, were in good condition amazingly. I thought why people in Shimla and surrounding hills respected traffic. May be because they have narrow roads and can’t expand their roads for being in hilly region. May be if you don’t respect traffic norms, you will stuck the entire traffic.

On the contrary, in metros and cities, we have been talking about increasing the lanes – make it two or four lanes for better traffic flow. At several highways, two-lanes are falling short as traffic goes for a choc-o-bloc.

Here Shimla gives us a better example, I feel. Vehicles will increase no doubts. Roads will feel the pinch. But what we require is a traffic sense – a civilized traffic sense. Basic stuff like giving indications, respecting signals and following lane system, sadly we ain’t doing it.

While writing this, I should not forget the Himachal Pradesh bus transport service drivers. Unlike other transport service drivers, they drive the huge buses on this single lane and never cross it. Even on sharp turns, their packed buses are in the lanes – kudos to them.

Even people prefer to travel by buses than their own vehicles as the transport service is very good. And the best part is the toy-train. At cheaper rates, they ferry you. Neat, clean and well-maintained. May be because its in UNESCO heritage list or may be because people respect it.

With all these experiences, shouldn’t the mega projects of having four-lanes and six-lanes be dropped and we should continue with single-lanes roads. It will, at least, bring traffic sense to the maximum. Keep pondering…

C ya