Defunct traffic lights pester commuters in Srinagar

Srinagar, Aug 17: Commuters have expressed resentment against the failure of authorities to restore defunct traffic lights in the summer capital saying this causes traffic jams.

They said traffic diversions on various roads including MA Road also take toll on them. Many commuters, including officer goers and students, said that the absence of traffic lights has been a major problem for them. They said the various important traffic junctions in the city have defunct traffic lights which cause traffic jams.

“Despite the passing of several years, traffic lights are still defunct. Earlier we have an old traffic light system and it worked for decades. However, despite installation, the much-hyped intelligent traffic lights are yet to be made operational. Now, traffic junctions are manned manually, and at many places, there is no deployment of traffic cops. This causes traffic mess in city,” said Wajahat Ahmad, a commuter.

The commuters also said that multiple traffic diversions in the city centre areas are cause inconvenience to them. They appealed to authorities to remove the traffic diversion at Sangarmal crossing so that they don’t have to take long U-turns near JK Bank headquarters to reach Lal Chowk and other city centre areas.

‘Due to diversions, we have to travel unnecessarily, which is not only creating inconvenience but also wastes our time. We appeal to authorities to remove the traffic diversion at Sangarmal and other places so that a smooth flow of traffic is ensured. We are already suffering due to traffic diversion because of construction projects,” said another commuter.

The commuters said that there are massive traffic jams in the city centre, Downtown, and other Srinagar areas on a daily basis. The public transport cab operators also said that traffic diversion must be eased to give them respite.

“If diversions are removed and traffic lights are put in place, we will have a respite. We also hope that the traffic department will deploy more men to man the traffic on the city roads so that we don’t have to suffer,” said Manzoor Ahmad, a commuter.

SSP Traffic, Srinagar City, Muzaffar Ahmad Shah, said that the traffic lights will be functional once the technicalities are fixed.

“We will also remove the diversions wherever it helps with the traffic flow,” Shah said.