‘Change in school, office timings cause traffic jams’

Srinagar, Nov 13: Amid the persistent traffic jams in Srinagar city, the Traffic Police has blamed the chaos on the changing seasons, besides the change in school and office timings.

The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Traffic (city) Ajaz Ahmad Bhat, while addressing media persons, acknowledged the traffic chaos in the city and blamed it on the autumn season, saying the days have shortened while the change in school and office timings, besides examinations, add to the traffic jam across the city.

"Because of autumn, the days have shortened. Earlier,r we used to operate from 8 am to 11 am as our traffic used to be stretched for three hours. Now it is squeezed to two hours only. Today, everyone leaves the house from 9 to 11 and wants to reach their destination," SSP Traffic City said.

He said that in the evening, they get a window of three to four hours during summer, which has also been squeezed to two hours only.

"Everyone leaves their offices from 3 to 5 pm and wants to reach home by 5 or 6 pm. Because of this, the traffic has increased a lot. So I request that people should use public transport to reduce the traffic chaos," he said.

He said that people should avoid travelling in their private vehicles to do away with getting stuck in traffic jams often.

"We try to make it easier for people. Wherever we feel that the traffic has increased a lot, we increase manpower at those spots.

"Change in the school timings and ongoing exams add to the traffic jams. We also realise that people are facing problems these days," he said.

He said that people should share private vehicles instead of taking their own vehicles on roads on daily basis.

"If people want to reach their destinations on time they have to think for themselves. They should also avoid parking their vehicles on the main roads," he said.

About the traffic jam witnessed on a stretch from Rambagh to Natipora, SSP Traffic said the traffic coming from Natipora to Rambagh plies through the Doodh Ganga road.

"But there is an issue as the traffic intersects at Rambagh because the traffic coming from the left side collides with the traffic coming from the right side on the same tube. This creates chaos," he said.

He further said that they do not have an immediate solution available for the problem. "But we have taken up the issue with the civil administration. They are trying to divert the traffic beneath Barzulla Bridge. Once that happens, the issue will be resolved soon," he said.

He, however, said most of the time the city does not witness traffic jams, but the vehicle movement remains slow.

He also said that the authorities are considering shifting from 11-meter Smart City buses to nine-meter buses.

"We are aware of the issue that these buses face problems while taking U-turns at various spots, which causes traffic congestion. The capacity will be reduced, but the number of these buses will be increased. The government is thinking about it," he said.

About the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS), SSP Traffic said out of 66 nodes, 59 were functional across the city.

"The signals are working at their maximum capacity. However, when there is a lot of traffic in the evening, we switch to manual mode, and people think that the signals are not working. These signals are not operational at only six to seven locations," he said.

He said that ITMS will be made fully operational by November end.