It is getting bad to worse for Guwahatians! Billed as the gateway to the North East, Guwahati continues to reel under the ill-effects of noise pollution and drunken-driving, something which is yet to draw the attention of those at the helm of affairs. Needless to say that the State Government as a whole and wings like the City Traffic Police, Transport Department and Pollution Control Board in particular, have failed to deliver the goods. Just to give a glimpse of where things stand today, only 12 numbers of 'Breath Analyzers' are available with the city police to curb drunken driving, which by no means is adequate. Except the recently introduced Interceptors police vans which are equipped with speed meters, the traffic police does not have speed meter handset to check excessive speed driving. Further, the density of liquor shops and bars in Guwahati city has made life tougher for the men-in-uniform. Shockingly, Guwahati, with a population of just 12, 60,419 persons as per 2011 census has as many as 431 liquor shops and bars. In 2012, City Traffic Police have registered 170 non-FIR cases against drivers detected to have consumed alcohol while driving. A total number of 762 non-FIR cases of ‘drunken-driving have been submitted to the Court till October this year. Likewise, city police, in 2012 detected 1,71,314 cases of traffic violation and realised fine to the tune of Rs 3,18,14,900 on the spot and sent a number of 40,718 non-FIR cases to the courts against drivers who did not pay fine on the spot. While a senior Assam Police official contended that lack of adequate infrastructure and manpower has made it impossible to keep things in check, civil rights lawyer Bhaskar Dev Konwar, who has been vocal on the issue of public rights, said that lack of knowledge of proper traffic rules, erratic and rash driving are the prime reason behind vehicular accidents in the city. As per records, this year (up to August), 177 fatal cases of road accidents have been reported, in which 187 person died. Further, 589 non-fatal cases have left 736 persons injured during the same period. Use of cell phone while driving has also led to a number of road mishaps in recent times. As far as the menace of noise pollution is concerned, the State Government is yet to categorise the Guwahati city into industrial, commercial, residential or silent areas/zones. Under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000, ‘silence zone’ is an area comprising not less than 100 meters around hospitals, educational institutions, courts, religious places or any other area which is declared as such by the competent authority. The City Traffic Police by a communication dated 23.03.2012 under Memo No. GTP/SP (Tr)/2012/33(A)/239 had suggested to the GMC to prohibit movement of all 15- years-old commercial vehicles within the city and to make it mandatory on the part of the vehicle owners to declare private parking space or garage under his /her lawful possession before purchase or registration of a vehicle, which is already enforced in Mizoram. Although the Transport Department has taken steps to remove multi-tone or air horns which are banned under the Motor Vehicle Rules, the enforcement wing of the transport departments has realised that the fine imposed are nominal and the drivers are willing to pay for it. Until heavy fine is imposed, like Rs 2000 to Rs 5000, or it is made a condition for issuance of permit, no effective result can be expected from such drives conducted by the Transport Department with the assistance of the traffic police. City police has also asked the PWD to install ‘No Horn Signs.’ At present, only officers above the rank of Inspector of Police are empowered to deal with certain traffic offences. The City Traffic Police has just seven officers – four Inspectors of Police (Traffic) and an SP (Traffic) who are authorised to tackle offences. To regulate traffic in the city, around 80 women constables have joined the services. The transport department is yet to permit the police officers in the rank of Sub-Inspectors of Police to deal with offences under section 177 and 179 of the Motor Vehicles Act.