No end to traffic jams in Srinagar

Srinagar, Apr 14: Commuters are facing a tough time due to massive traffic jams on vital routes in the summer capital.

Students and government, and private employees said that continuous traffic jams are taking a toll on them and they are not able to reach their respective destinations on time. “Amid the closure of traffic lights, there is massive traffic jams in city centre areas. We daily get stuck in traffic jams in the absence of regulation,” said Ashfaq Ahmad, a student.

Commuters also blamed the massive encroachment of roads by vendors for the traffic jams. “On both sides of the roads in Srinagar, vendors have put their stalls, which is hindering the traffic. At the Batamaloo area near PCR, the stalls on the roads are increasing with each passing day. Vendors choke roads at Nowhatta, Rajouri Kadal and Khayam Chowk too,” said Ghulam Ahmad, a commuter.

The commuters said that the Traffic police and SMC should tighten the noose around these encroachers. The commuters also said that the ill-planned movement of Srinagar Smart City buses is also creating issues for traffic.

“There are multiple buses at one stop, and given that these buses are large, they are hindering the traffic movement. This also happens because there is a total lack of designated bus stops for these smart buses. At one end, authorities are disallowing cabs into city, citing traffic congestion, and on the other hand,d there is total mismanagement of these buses,” said another commuter.

The commuters also decried the non-functional traffic lights and said these issues are making the traffic scenario in Srinagar beyond repair. They said that massive traffic on roads is leading to hindering of the movement of essential vehicle as well.

“There are wrongly parked vehicles on vital roads, which also causes traffic jams. There must be action against wrongly parked vehicles to streamline traffic flow,” they said.

SSP Traffic Srinagar, Muzaffar Ahmad Shah, said that in the last three weeks, only Tulip Garden footfall has crossed 5 Lakh visitors, which has added to the traffic jams. He said that they are also addressing the encroachment issue. ‘We hope that other departments will supplement our anti-encroachment drives,” he said.

“In the past few days, we held anti-encroachment drives across Soura, Hazratbal, and other areas. I have also coordinated with the concerned officers to make the flow of Smart City buses better. Other departments will also join the efforts to ensure the issue is addressed,” the SSP added.

When contacted, the SMC commissioner did not respond to calls from this reporter.