Traffic snarls in Bijbehara town worries commuters
Anantnag: The mismanagement of the traffic and callous attitude of officials has left Bijbehara town in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district in complete mess, locals alleged saying that commuters are facing a hard time here.
Locals said that the reason behind the mess is lack of parking space, mismanagement of traffic, encroachment of pathways and delay in widening of some important road links in the town.
“Due to unavailability of parking space in the main town, people often pull their vehicles on roadsides which cause long and frequent traffic jams,” Mohammad Iqbal, a local resident, said.
“At several places, haphazard parking of vehicles hampers traffic movement. Some shopkeepers even park their vehicles in markets. This also leads to traffic jams and causes inconvenience to us. It is high time that the concerned authorities wake up from slumber and restore traffic system in the town,” he added.
He said that vendors have occupied the pathways due to which pedestrians are forced to walk on the already narrow roads and it takes half an hour to cover just few hundred meters.
A group of employees said the defunct traffic management has put their jobs at stake as they fail to reach their respective offices on time.
“During peak hours, the traffic authorities usually start checking vehicles on main roads which worsens the mess,” they added.
The traffic jam can be witnessed anytime in day near sub district hospital Bijbehara, Goriwan, Padshibagh, Ziprpora and other spots due to which hundreds of people suffer.
The delay in widening of some of the roads in the main town and entry of heavy motor vehicles even during day time is adding to the mess, a local shopkeeper said.
Locals said that this issue was brought to the notice of concerned higher ups several times, however, nothing changed on ground as their promises proved short lived.
“We have requested the administration to ban the movement of truck in the town from 8 am to 8 pm in the evening but nothing is being done,” the locals said.
They once again requested the higher ups to look into the matter and take steps so that public can heave a sigh of relief.
