Srinagar, May 7: Traffic diversions in various areas of the summer capital have become source of inconvenience for commuters as these lead to frequent traffic jams.
Traffic diversion at busy MA Road near Polo Ground poses risk of accidents. Commuters traveling from Downtown towards the city centre areas said the diversion has become accident-probe due to continuous traffic flow from Dalgate towards Lal Chowk.
“It is illogical to keep traffic lights off and one side closed at main junction at MA Road and divert traffic from turn around near Hotel Broadway. This poses risk of accidents,” said Abdul Hamid a commuter.
Commuters said that diversions in other areas of the city including Bypass, Budshah Chowk, Dalgate slow down traffic movement.
“Due to these unnecessary diversions, shoppers avoid visiting shops because they fear getting caught in traffic mess. These diversions and barriers instead of regulating the traffic are ending up creating gridlocks,” said a shopkeeper at Lal Chowk.
The commuters say that due to traffic jams they lose precious time reaching their respective destinations. “Many people are switching over to two-wheelers to avoid traffic jams,” they said.
Commuters maintain that rather than blocking these points, authorities should manage traffic with more manpower and functional traffic lights.
“There are no traffic lights functional and diversions can’t be made a solution as it creates traffic mess,” said Muhammad Aslam a driver.
“Authorities are talking about the smart city while the basic facilities like traffic lights are not working. It is ironical,” said Asif Ahmed, an office goer
Senior officials from the Traffic department have been maintaining that diversions will be reviewed. “We will remove diversions where they are not required. Due to tourist rush, diversions were created to streamline traffic. More men will be pressed into service to manage traffic so that the issue will be addressed properly,” a Traffic official said.