Frequent traffic jam in Bijbehara town irks commuters
Anantnag: The mismanagement of the traffic and indifferent attitude of officials has left Bijbehara town in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district in complete mess as the town reports huge traffic jams especially in morning and evening hours, locals alleged Monday.
The residents of Bijbehara and other places visiting the town said that the reason behind the mess is due to lack of parking space, mismanagement of traffic and non compliance of traffic rules by the people.
People themselves are also responsible as they often pull their vehicles on roadsides which cause long and frequent traffic jams, Irshad Hussain, a local resident said.
“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.
Shakeel Ahmad, another local said that traffic jams have become order of the day in the town and this is mainly due to parking of vehicles along the road side and allowing the HMVs through the town during day time.
He said that traffic jam is frequently reported from PHE office to Padshahi Bagh and then in Zirpora and on same route sub district hospital is also located due to which patients alongwith the attendants are suffering.
He said that vendors and shopkeepers are occupying the footpaths due to which pedestrians are forced to walk on the 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.
They said that government had banned the entry of heavy motor vehicles in the town during day time but that isn’t being implemented on ground which is also becoming the reason of pesky traffic jam.
The locals said that the 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 the district administration to look into the matter and take immediate steps in this regard
Jahangeer Ganaie
