Srinagar
Failure of authorities to put in place measures for traffic regulation causes traffic jams in the city-centre.
Commuters faced a tough time on Saturday due to massive traffic jams in various areas of the city.
Traffic came to a grinding halt at city centre areas including Jehangir Chowk, Budshah Chowk, Batmaloo, Residency Road, Regal Chowk, TRC, Polo View and Ram Bagh Bridge— causing inconvenience to commuters.
Bashir Ahmad, a commuter rued that it took him around 30 minutes to cross the Abdullah Bridge due to traffic jam.
“The concerned authorities are acting as mute spectators to traffic jams. They only hold meetings and formulate traffic plans. Ironically, these are never implemented on the ground,” he said.
Though the Traffic authorities have prohibited parking on roadsides especially at busy Residency Road, however in absence of regulation, commuters continue to violate the directive.“Parking on roadsides in city centre is not viable due to heavy rush of vehicles,” another commuter said.
A group of employees said the “defunct” traffic system has put their jobs at stake as they fail to reach their respective offices on time. “During peak hours, the traffic authorities usually put off the traffic signals. This worsens the traffic mess,” they said.
Several ambulances often get stuck on various roads, putting the lives of patients at risk. The traffic cops on duty at various places were busy in paving way for the VIPs and their cavalcades. “Do only VIPs have right to travel on roads. We are not allowed to move even an inch and traffic cops are busy in making way for VIPs,” said a group of commuters at Lalchowk who were stuck in traffic jam.
SSP Traffic Srinagar City, Tahir Saleem did not respond to repeated calls from Kashmir Life.
