Traffic diversion at MA Road irks commuters

Srinagar, Jun 12: The traffic diversion placed near Sangarmal City Centre along the MA Road intersection is causing immense inconvenience to commuters on the busy route

With direct vehicular movement blocked by the Traffic Police for vehicles bound from Downtown to Lal Chowk and the south city areas, commuters face a tough time. The addition of vehicles from Downtown adds to persistent traffic jams. Due to diversion, the vehicles from Downtown have to take a U-turn Kashmir Golf Course intersection.

“This traffic diversion is unnecessary. This wastes precious time of commuters especially students. This diversion can prove detrimental in case of any mishap,” said Abdul Hamid, a commuter.

The commuters said that the problem worsens when traffic from Dalgate, Downtown, adds on MA Road. “This chokes the entire MA Road stretch during peak hours. Persistent traffic snarls have become a headache for commuters.

“Between 8 to 10 am and later in the afternoon, there is absolute chaos on MA Road. Parents dropping off children, office-goers, and shopkeepers all get stuck in traffic jams.  We appeal Traffic authorities to end the diversion and let vehicles move as per the traffic signal,” said Farooq Ahmad, an office goer.

Commuters said traffic diversions cannot substitute for efficient traffic management. “Authorities have invested a huge amount in setting up sophisticated traffic lights, and in such a case, there should be no need to need for manual traffic divisions,” said Mehrajuddin, a commuter.

SSP Traffic Srinagar City, Ajaz Ahmad Bhat, said that the traffic police is resorting to diversions only to streamline traffic.

“Based on the flow of traffic, we are placing traffic divisions. In the past few weeks, we reviewed the traffic situation and removed a few diversions. To overcome the traffic mess at MA Road, we only diverted one side of the traffic, and still we are constantly reviewing these diversions and updating it for the convenience of commuters,” Bhat said.