Frequent traffic jam in Shopian irks commuters
Shopian: The mismanagement of the traffic in Shopian town in south Kashmir is giving tough time to commuters who allege that they have to spend hours to travel through the township.
Locals said that heavy vehicles are entering the town during the day time which often leads to heavy traffic jam.
They said despite the fact that the government has issued several orders to stop entry of heavy vehicles in the town particularly during day time, the orders are being ignored and not implemented on ground.
Local residents said that there is no civic sense in public as well as wherever there are parking facilities, people are not using it and are haphazardly parking their vehicles on roads which are already narrow.
“At several places, haphazard parking of vehicles hampers traffic movement. Some shopkeepers even park their vehicles in the markets. This also leads to traffic jams and causes inconvenience to us, Shiraz Ahmad, a local youth said.
Aijaz Ahmad, another local resident 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 distance.
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.
Locals said that this issue was brought in notice of concerned higher ups several times, however, nothing has changed on ground as promises of officials proved short lived.
The locals once again requested higher ups to look into the matter and take steps so that public can heave a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, an official of the district administration said that Municipal committee has already identified a space for vendors and very soon it will be developed and the local authorities will ensure that the vendors will have a permanent place now and they won’t be plying their carts in the town.
He said that with the construction of new highway, all heavy vehicles will be diverted through this route besides that administration is going to act tough against the encroachers.
KV News
