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Mizoram’s capital city, Aizawl, nestled amidst lush green hills, rarely makes national headlines. Yet, the city has become familiar to many across the country through social media for its remarkable traffic discipline.
Photographs and videos of two-wheelers moving in harmony alongside long lines of vehicles, without honking or chaos, have gone viral. Widely shared by news platforms and several travel vloggers, Aizawl has earned a reputation as India’s only ‘silent city’.
But behind this serene image of disciplined traffic lies a troubling reality that residents endure every day—relentless traffic jams. Aizawl, an unplanned city, has a terrain ill-suited to a growing population. Built on a hill, the city’s rugged topography has houses clinging to steep slopes, leaving limited space for roads—often narrow paths barely wide enough for two vehicles.
Aizawl is the fastest-growing city in the state and serves as its political, commercial, educational and cultural centre. As the administrative headquarters, it is home to key government institutions, including the State Assembly and Secretariat. The city spans an area of 129.91 square kilometres and contains approximately 429 kilometres of road within its municipal limits. However, only 40 per cent of this road network has a Right of Way (RoW) exceeding 10 metres.
Lalmuanpuii, a pharmacist at Aizawl Adventist Hospital, drives her two-wheeler for over thirty minutes each day to reach her workplace. “In total, I drive for an hour to and fro due to the traffic jam and winding roads. I try my best to cover my face because of the pollution. As I sometimes have to attend church-related programmes such as choir practices late into the night, the journey gets quite weary,” she said.
The distance she covers is around nine kilometres, according to Google Maps. To understand the traffic in Aizawl, a comparison can be made to Bengaluru. The Karnataka capital is the second slowest city in the world, as a car can cover only 10 km in 29 minutes and 10 seconds, according to a report by TomTom, a Dutch multinational developer of location technology.
A fitting comparison of the two cities was made in a video that recently went viral by Caleb Freisen, a Canadian living in Aizawl. He compared Aizawl and Bangalore during rush hour, highlighting differences in sound pollution — Aizawl being silent while Bangalore’s rush hour was filled with honking.
Another key point he raised was that the traffic congestion was the same. “I know you’re thinking Aizawl has a pretty small population, right, and honking just isn't required here like in other Indian cities where there’s more competition on the road, but guess what, traffic here in Aizawl is actually worse than in Bengaluru.”
Various measures have been taken in an attempt to ease the traffic jam.
Prior to the 2018 Mizoram Legislative Assembly elections, Zoramthanga—who would go on to become Chief Minister—promised to make Aizawl “traffic-jam free” as part of his campaign.
A major initiative under this promise was the Parking House Support Scheme (PAHOSS), inaugurated on 6 February 2019. Under the scheme, the government was to provide financial assistance for constructing parking spaces to individuals, NGOs and Local Councils.
Based on the latest government data, PAHOSS received a total of 1,462 applications. A minister, responding to a query during a budget session in March 2024, disclosed that 188 beneficiaries were still in the process of completing their parking houses, despite having been sanctioned a total of 952 lakhs for initial and second instalments. On 13 March this year, the new ZPM government announced the scheme’s discontinuation.
An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the scheme failed because parking sites were built in non-congested individual areas, providing minimal relief from overall traffic congestion.
“If the initiative had been effective, the current government would have continued it. The locations were poorly chosen and didn’t meet the public’s parking needs. Although intended for public parking, political favouritism meant politicians handed out benefits to favoured individuals. From what has been built so far, there are no visible major results. Some used the scheme to complete personal house construction, simply designating the upper floor as a parking lot. While this could have served a dual purpose, personal ambitions appear to have overshadowed the public interest,” he said.
Another measure taken was the ‘odd-even rule’.
Implemented on 1 June 2019, the rule was introduced following a Coordination on Traffic Management meeting held on 25 April. Then-Home Minister Lalchamliana announced the decision, which remains in effect. Under the rule, vehicle movement is restricted based on the last digit of the number plate—for instance, vehicles ending in 1 or 2 are not allowed on Mondays, 3 or 4 on Tuesdays, and so on.
However, even this measure has drawn criticism.
Noel Chawilena Jongte, a driver who has worked for a private school for over 10 years, said, “The only ones benefiting from this scheme are vehicle dealers, especially those selling two-wheelers. With loans easily available, people simply buy an extra two-wheeler to use on days when their primary vehicle is restricted. Some families even own more two-wheelers than they have members. This hasn’t eased traffic at all.”
At least five people Down To Earth spoke to saw more disadvantages than advantages. Another Aizawl resident, a government employee, commented on the rule on condition of anonymity, saying, “The odd-even rule has only increased the number of vehicles in the city. The traffic jam worsened after its introduction because everyone now has an extra vehicle to use.”
Between 2020 and 2023, a total of 75,162 new vehicles were registered, of which 51,569 were in Aizawl alone — making up over 68 per cent of total vehicle registrations in the state. The total number of registered vehicles in Aizawl district stands at 193,976.
Despite the volume of traffic, public transport is not an option for many. In Lalmuanpuii’s case, who has to ride for over an hour daily through rain and shine, the bus is not viable.
“If I took the bus, with the wait time and the frequent stops at every intersection, coupled with the heavy rush-hour traffic, it would take me at least two hours for a round trip,” she said.
Another issue residents face is the lack of access to public transport.
Mizoram University, a central university in Aizawl about 10 kilometres from the city centre, has zero public transport connectivity. Professors and students living on campus face severe challenges as a result.
DTE spoke to Ratnamala, a professor in the Mass Communication department who has lived on campus since 2010.
“There is no public transport to the city, so I feel very handicapped, like I’m unable to move. If I want to go to the city, attend events or programmes, I have to ask for favours. I’ve missed so many events—book talks, concerts— I would’ve loved to attend, but I had no option,” she said. Her only option is to ask her husband to drive her, but parking in the city is another major issue. Alternatively, she can ask a student to drive her to town, for which she has to cover their petrol and food. Even to access the nearest two-wheeler or transport link, she has to travel to a locality five minutes away by scooter.
The professor said she only feels truly alive when she travels to other cities for work.
“I want to go out, have coffee in cafés, and meet people for my research. But I can’t step out—neither for academic purposes nor personal reasons. If I had more opportunities to engage with people, I could better understand the culture, which would benefit me academically as a researcher as well,” she explained.
Despite traffic woes and poor public transport, a small population of cyclists and walkers remains hopeful.
Miller B. Renthlei, a mountain biker and lawyer, rides his cycle to work whenever possible—on days when he has fewer files and the weather is favourable.
“It’s both a practical transport mode and a way to relieve stress. Sometimes, I take a detour on the way home just to enjoy riding,” he said. While he avoids rush hour, he noted that cyclists can integrate smoothly into the traffic flow.
“Because there’s a strong sense of discipline and people follow rules, it’s easy for cyclists to ride safely. If we were in metro cities where traffic laws are often ignored, it would be harder. Here, it almost feels like a dedicated cycle track,” he added.
With Aizawl having some of the best air quality in India, walking is also gaining popularity. One resident, Lalhruaitluanga Chhangte—an author and journalist—is known for being a “walking citizen.” He walks everywhere, avoiding any vehicle unless absolutely necessary.
“Ever since I was young, I’ve enjoyed walking—it lets me observe the world. It’s a chance to talk to friends. We often say we never see our families anymore, but that’s just materialism. Materialism makes us believe we need a vehicle even for short trips. But when we walk, we meet friends, say hi to neighbours, see people drying their clothes, and chat for a bit,” he said.
This article is part of our series on how India moves, which looks at the relationship between air quality and human mobility in cities and towns.