Recurrent traffic jam in Pulwama town irks commuters
Pulwama: The mismanagement of the traffic and callous attitude of officials has left Pulwama town in south Kashmir in complete mess as the town reports huge traffic jams for hours together, locals alleged.
They said that the reason behind the mess is due to lack of parking space, mismanagement of traffic, absence of footpaths and non compliance of traffic rules by the people.
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 Akbar 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,” he said.
“It is high time that the concerned authorities wake up from slumber and restore traffic system,” he added.
Mudasir Ahmad, a social activist from the district said that traffic jams have become order of the day in the town and this is mainly due to parking of vehicles along road side and absence of footpaths.
He said that vendors and shopkeepers are occupying the main roads 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 persistent traffic jams have put their jobs at stake as they fail to reach their respective offices on time.
The traffic jam can be witnessed anytime in day near Murran Chowk, hospital road and other main points due to which hundreds of people are left to 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 creating more chaos on the roads due to which two vehicles are unable to pass simultaneously,” said another local.
He said that there are dozens of sumo stands in the town whose entry into main town was banned and were allowed to function from outskirts of town but now they too have started to function from main town which is adding to the traffic mess.
Locals said that this issue was brought into the notice of concerned higher ups several times, however, nothing changed on ground as promises of officials proved short lived.
They once again requested higher ups to look into the matter and take steps so that public can heave a sigh of relief.
Jahangeer Ganaie
