Guwahati: It’s been one month since the capital city of Guwahati seemed to be debating over the newly installed Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS).

While for commuters, the new traffic signals which were meant to be easing the traffic congestion in the city have been a disappointment, the city traffic department believed that it’s the commuters who need to obey traffic rules to get the most out of the system.

Speaking to TIME8, Dy. Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Guwahati, Hiranya Kumar Barman said, “The first phase of the project was a success and we are pretty sure that the next two phases will be successful as well. There has been a smooth traffic flow in the city if compared to previous years. But, one must note that improvement will come only when people will start following the traffic rules and regulations.”

He also mentioned that people cannot blame the ITMS for the traffic congestion. “Improper parking and plying on the roadside leads to traffic congestion and obstruction to other people on the road, why blame the Integrated Traffic Management System for this? If citizens start to follow lane driving and follow traffic rules there won’t be an issue,” added DCP Hiranya Kumar Barman.

On the other hand, a city commuter expressed, “Underneath the Ganeshguri flyover there are three traffic lights to control the flow of traffic in one direction or another. But nowadays, the increased number of vehicles has caused a large traffic jam. Not even ITMS can solve this problem. The roads connected to the GS road also lead to traffic jams, especially on the Nayanpur side.”

Similarly, another resident claimed that ITMS won’t be effective in improving traffic in the city, him; the new integrated traffic management system in the city is a waste.

“Every single day I face trouble due to heavy traffic jams in the city. I doubt the Integrated Traffic Management System can solve this issue. I reach the office almost by 40 minutes, whereas, I used to reach the office earlier by 20 minutes. Undoubtedly traffic police officials were best in this job, handling the city traffic manually was much better than ITMS,” the city-based dweller said.

So far, the integrated traffic management system (ITMS) has been covering at least 20 junctions out of the 94 in the city, in the first phase of the project.

The control room of the traffic management system has been set up at Ulubari here. The estimated time of completion of the work was August 2023 and over 1,000 cameras will be installed along with Adaptive Traffic Control System.

The primary goal of ITMS is to utilize information technology to modernize key functions of traffic management, traffic control, traffic law enforcement and traffic information dissemination in the city to build a safer city with smooth traffic flow, informed road users and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of road traffic infrastructure.

With ITMS, the overall burden of traffic on the roads will reduce and it will result in greater journey time reliability for the citizens and local businesses improving overall productivity levels.

Also Read: Guwahati gets Integrated Traffic Management System: How it works? All details