Tourist rush to Srinagar gardens brings joy and jams

Srinagar, April 04: As thousands of local and non–local tourists are visiting Srinagar gardens, the massive flow of traffic has resulted in heavy traffic jams in Srinagar.

Residents have expressed dismay at facing major inconvenience due to traffic jams on a daily basis.

Officials said that since Eid days, thousands of tourists have visited the famous Tulip garden and Mughal gardens across Srinagar. They said that only on Eid days over 75 thousand visited the Tulip garden.

Officials said that thousands of vehicles ply on roads along Boulevard and Downtown to visit these gardens, which has made traffic management difficult.

“In the last 8 days, around 2 lakh tourists visited Tulip garden. With an increase in tourist flow, there is a huge influx of vehicles in other gardens, too, which fall along the Boulevard stretch, such as Mughal gardens,” said an official.

Locals said that the issue has become a nightmare. The commuters living in the Dalgate, Nishat, Shalimar, Harwan, Theed, and Tailbal areas said their normal lives have been impacted by the congestion.

“Serious steps must be taken by the traffic authorities to give us some respite. Our normal life has been affected badly and it is also creating public transport issues. Our children have to reach schools and adults need to get to work. No doubt this is a tourist area, but we also have normal lives to lead, which we are unable to,” said Mudasir Ahmad, a commuter from Harwan.

The locals in Downtown also said that the flow of tourists in the famous Badamwari garden has resulted in severe congestion.

They said due to the absence of traffic cops at various junctions the stretch from Saidakadal to Khanyar to Nowhatta remains crippled with traffic jams. The commuters said that for the past few days, they have faced immense inconvenience in Srinagar.

“There should be more traffic cops on the ground to manage the traffic influx. In addition to that, the defunct traffic lights are adding to our woes,” said another commuter.

The issue has also affected the movement of essential service vehicles in Srinagar. Locals said that ambulances carrying patients frequently get stuck in traffic, leaving them with no way to pass.

“We have a patient at Bone and Joint hospital, and commuting through this traffic is very difficult. In our family, we have asked people not to come to the hospital as we know they will be stuck in traffic jams for the whole day. We have essential tasks to carry for the patient, and due to traffic gridlock, we are facing hardships,” said Nazir Ahmad, an attendant at Bone and Joint Hospital.

SSP Traffic Srinagar, Muzaffar Ahmad Shah, said that there has been a major jump in tourist vehicles plying to these gardens.

While acknowledging the issue, he said that they are undertaking various measures to give respite to commuters.

“We have pressed all the men and machinery on roads to ensure smooth traffic flow. There has been a massive jump in vehicle influx since Eid-ul-Fitr, and we are seeing more vehicles traveling on the roads compared to the previous years. Many tourists come in private vehicles, and then there are local vehicles in Srinagar. I have proposed various measures that we are simultaneously applying so that the least inconvenience is caused to people. We are also focusing to ensure that the flow of essential vehicles is not hindered,” he said