Frequent traffic jam in Pulwama irks commuters
Pulwama: Resentment is brewing among the residents of Pulwama against the traffic police department over its callous attitude in manning the traffic in the town.
The move has left Pulwama town in complete mess as the prolonged traffic jam has become the order of the day.
The residents of Pulwama attributed the traffic mess to lack of parking space, mismanagement of traffic and absence of footpaths in the town. They also blamed the people for non compliance of traffic rules.
“People themselves are also responsible as they often park their vehicles on roadsides which cause long and frequent traffic jams,” said Zakir Hussain, a local resident.
“At several places, haphazard parking of vehicles hampers traffic movement. Some shopkeepers even park their vehicles on roads which are already very narrow. This also leads to traffic jams and causes inconvenience to us,” he said.
The locals said the traffic jam is witnessed from Murran chowk to Newa sumo stand which witnesses’ huge traffic flow as the district hospital is located on the same road.
“The vendors and shopkeepers occupy the main roads with the stalls due to which pedestrians are forced to walk on the roads and it takes half an hour to cover just a few hundred meters,” another local said.
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.
“Government has failed in widening some of the roads in the main town which would have helped in clearing this mess,” they said.
Locals said they brought the issue into the notice of concerned higher ups several times, however, nothing changed on ground.
They urged the higher ups to look into the matter and take immediate steps in this regard.
An official of the municipal committee said that they are working along with other departments to regulate traffic movement and get rid of traffic jams.
Jahangeer Ganaie
