Some years back the traffic officials blocked a number of crossings on important roads in Srinagar city and created new diversions. They said it was done to avoid long traffic jams on the crossings and de-congest the traffic on important roads.
However, according to reports, the move is now creating more inconvenience to the commuters rather than bringing any kind of respite, particularly if they are traveling on busy roads including the Srinagar Bypass of the national highway.
The problem is that a driver has to cover a long distance to use the diversion. This adds more traffic unnecessarily on the roads and leads to traffic jamming and slow movement of vehicular traffic. It has been observed that the number of vehicles on Srinagar roads is increasing with the onset of summer.
Vehicles from other districts or outside Kashmir are also plying in large number on the roads. Movement of people in Kashmir and visitors from outside towards tourist destinations in Srinagar and other places has also led to the increased movement.
This scenario will continue for the summer months and also for some time after that. Traffic authorities will have to ensure smooth movement of traffic. The blocked crossings must be reopened and traffic lights made functional there.
The introduction of traffic signals some years back had brought much relief for the commuters. Huge amount of money was spent for purchasing and installation of the required equipment.
But the traffic lights have been made non-functional at a number of road junctions as the crossing have been closed and new diversions created. A number of people ask that what was the fun of installing the traffic lights if those were to be made non-functional.
Traffic authorities must see to it that commuters are not put to inconvenience by such measures. Besides there are a number of crossings without traffic lights in several parts of the city.
These crossings are not manned by traffic officials. This results in frequent traffic jamming at such places. Surely with whatever man power available, the traffic police is trying to smoothly regulate the traffic movement.
However, emerging problems need new solutions. Traffic lights must be installed on the crossings, not manned by traffic police.