by Salma Masood
Srinagar: The already derailed public transport system in the city brings more troubles to the commuters in the chilly winters by their sluggish pace resulting in the frequent jams around the city centre Lal Chowk.
The minibuses plying on the different routes ferrying passengers to Lal Chowk stop at any place to pick up the passengers. There are no designated stops where they would stop and pick, a number of commuters told Kashmir Life.
Hence, a wide section of the working population including private sector and government employees, students and businessmen have no option but to use the snail-paced transport services resulting in the wastage of time.
“I travel every day from Soura to get to my tuitions, and the buses in which I travel take twice of the actual time to get us to our destinations,” said an engineering entrance exam aspirant. He also added that it wastes a lot of his precious time.
Apart from the lack of a mechanism for the transport, there is no schedule or proper timing for any route, complained the commuters. “I cannot find buses on time and my family gets apprehensive. Especially in winters, I reach home late in the evening,” said Mehar, a second-year college student, who travels every day from Bemina to Srinagar.
The sluggish transport often leads the commuters to reach late to their destinations, a student, from Barzulla locality of the city, complained about irregular service and said no bus from Rambagh goes directly to Lal Chowk, thus forcing her to walk to Barzulla every day.
Pertinently, the city has seen a consistent rise in private vehicles over the last few years leading to more traffic problems.
Meanwhile, commenting on the issue, Regional Transport Officer (RTO) for Kashmir division, Iqramullah Tak said that he will look into the matter and try to resolve it as soon as possible.
