Despite many Covid restrictions being lifted entirely by the state government, the rule to regulate private vehicles has remained.
The coming of the coronavirus pandemic has seen the Meghalaya government impose an odd-even regime on vehicles, ostensibly as part of the Covid mitigation measures. Currently, the rule only affects private vehicles.
However, it is an open secret in government circles that the rule has less to do with Covid and more to do with being the only real solution to Shillong’s awful traffic snarls.
The government sees the current regime as a win-win: there is no restriction on commercial vehicles, which allows taxi drivers and the like to earn their daily bread; those with genuine needs and/or connections can get passes that exempt them from the rule; the traffic situation has eased markedly, except perhaps in Khyndailad and a few other spots at certain hours.
