Restore public transport through Lal Chowk

The movement of public transport through Lal Chowk and its adjoining areas continues to remain suspended. The movement was suspended several months back as work for the Srinagar Smart City Project started in the areas.

While the work has been almost completed and the projects inaugurated, the public transport facilities continue to remain unavailable for the people.

Subsequently, the students, office goers and those working in shops and other business establishments besides other people continue to face inconvenience. They have to walk on foot distances to catch the buses and cabs back to their homes.

In the morning the buses and cabs drop them some distance away from Lal Chowk. They have to cover the distance on foot to reach their educational institutions, offices, shops and other business establishments. Even the people visiting the areas for some work face the same problem.

Prior to suspension of the movement of public transport, thousands of mini-buses and sumos used to move through the areas. The areas where the public transport movement continues to be restricted include Lal Chowk, Residency Road, Regal Chowk, and Maulana Azad Road. After the inauguration of various projects at Lal Chowk it was being hoped that the public transport movement may be resumed but this did not happen.

The concerned authorities must be having their reasons for that but efforts should be made to complete the work whatever left speedily so that the inconvenience to the people comes to an end. The services of e-rickshaws are being utilised in the areas but their number is small to cater the rush.

The resumption of the public transport will also help the business of local shopkeepers, who have been witnessing drop in their business for quite some time.

The Srinagar smart city projects have added to the beauty of these areas and it is being hoped that more tourists visit the place and there is good business also. Since the project work is going on at some other places in the city, the work has to go with a good pace.

The slow pace causes problems in the vehicular and pedestrian movement. Secondly, the work should not unnecessarily stretch over to more months at the places, where it is scheduled to get completed before winter.