Traffic streamlined, fruit trucks rolling: Admin

Srinagar, Sep 22: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Monday assured smooth traffic movement on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway (NH-44).

The Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Anshul Garg, said that 1.37 metric tonnes of fruits had been dispatched from Kashmir in the past 10 days, while Inspector General of Police (IGP) Traffic, Kashmir Division, Muhammad Suleman Choudhary  8000 trucks stranded on the highway had been cleared.

They held a joint news briefing to inform about the status of streamlined traffic movement on the NH-44 and the Mughal Road, transportation of fresh fruits from Kashmir, restoration work on NH-44, and availability of essential supplies in Kashmir.

Garg said that during the past 10 days, under the strict Standard Operating Procedures (SoP) directed by the Chief Secretary, in collaboration with the district administrations, Traffic Police, National Highway team, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), and other relevant agencies, over 137,000 metric tonnes of fresh fruit had been successfully dispatched from Kashmir via the NH-44, Mughal Road, and parcel train service.

“Every day, around 1500 to 2000 vehicles, including fruit trucks and empty tankers accumulating in Kashmir, are being systematically dispatched towards Jammu on alternate days via NH-44 and Mughal Road,” he said. “The pattern of traffic is streamlined and monitored by the Traffic Police personnel so that if traffic on NH-44 is plying towards Jammu today, the traffic would ply on Mughal Road towards Kashmir, and tomorrow the traffic will move towards Kashmir on NH-44 while through Mughal Road the vehicles will move towards Jammu.”

The Divisional Commissioner said that the pattern is reversed so that the traffic flow is streamlined and remains uninterrupted.

He said that the restoration of the NH-44 was being expedited with the support of local administration and agencies, and the IGP Traffic was closely monitoring the traffic movement in coordination with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and local administration, which had resulted in the fast movement of vehicles.

Garg said that the movement of trucks had significantly increased from the previous 1500 to 2000 vehicles per day to 4000 to 4500 vehicles per day.

He said that 2000 fruit-laden trucks had left from Qazigund towards Jammu, and all the fruit-laden trucks from Kashmir would be dispatched towards Jammu by late evening.

“On Sunday, around 1800 to 1900 trucks reached Jammu via Mughal Road so that the dispatching of fresh fruit is given top priority and growers do not face any inconvenience,” the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir said. “Recently, the parcel train service was inaugurated by the Lieutenant Governor, so the fruit is directly taken from Srinagar to Adarsh Nagar, Delhi. Over 800 to 1000 tonnes of fresh fruit are being transported daily through parcel train services to Delhi.”

He said that the demand for train loading operations from Baramulla and Anantnag was being processed further to help the farmers.

In response to rumors of shortages of essential supplies, Garg said that the stock of essential supplies, including petrol, diesel, LPG cylinders, and other crucial items, was adequately available for at least a week.

“There is no need for panic buying,” he said.

The Divisional Commissioner Kashmir said that the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Department continues to ensure availability of fuel at pumps and its fair distribution, besides replenishing stocks regularly.

He appealed to the people not to pay heed to rumors in this regard.

Garg said that divisional administration, district administrations, and FCS&CA were closely working to ensure the availability of food stock in Kashmir.

Citing improvement in weather, he said that the buffer stock would be augmented on a day-to-day basis.

The Divisional Commissioner Kashmir said that the Chief Secretary was reviewing the situation daily to streamline the one-way traffic system and issuing regular directions to agencies to work with close coordination.

He appreciated people for their cooperation amid the recent circumstances, which helped the administration address the challenges properly.

IGP Traffic, Kashmir Division, Muhammad Suleman Choudhary said that around 8000 to 10000 trucks carrying essential goods for Kashmir that were previously stranded had been cleared, facilitating smoother movement of essential goods.