Srinagar: Hundreds of man-hours are lost by commuters in traffic congestions in Srinagar, the summer capital of J&K, an official report has revealed, citing that vehicle population has outpaced the road length in the district.
As per the report by J&K government the population of Srinagar ‘Master Plan area’ as per Census 2011 was 17.8 lakh (excluding the overhead population of around 3 lakh which includes the Defense forces, Service and Darbar Move population) and 22.9 lakh in 2019.
“Large-scale urbanization and rapid growth of vehicle population has laid severe stress on the existing urban transport system in Srinagar city. With the sharing of limited right of way by a variety of modes and other utility services, the problems have become unmanageable resulting in traffic congestion, accidents, inadequate parking area and environmental deterioration.
“The City has been experiencing an explosive growth in the number of registered vehicles. The numbers of vehicle registration per year have considerably risen from 0.17 lakh in 2011 to 0.24 lakh in 2018. This high density and rapid growth of vehicles have worsened the transport situation to a significant extent.
“An insight into the trends and type of accidents observed in Srinagar indicates a total of 375 road accidents and 46 fatalities have taken place in Srinagar in 2018. The average monthly household income is about Rs. 26,384. The Study Area has a total of 40.56 lakh daily trips with a per capita trip rate of 1.80 (including walk) and 1.5 (excluding walk),” the report reads.
It states that a rail based mass rapid transit system (MRTS) network of 42.5 km has been proposed in the Comprehensive Mobility Plan, 2020. “Alternatives analysis is about finding the best alternative to address the transportation related problems for specific corridors or areas of a City. Detailed appraisal guidelines for mass rapid transport project proposals have been laid down by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India in 2017.
“Government of Jammu & Kashmir has engaged RITES Ltd. (A Govt. of India Enterprise) to prepare an ‘Alternatives Analysis Report for Srinagar Rail-based Mass Rapid Transit System’ as per Metro Rail Policy – 2017 and Metrolite Policy – 2019. The Study Area is the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Budgam, Ganderbal, Pampore, Khrew Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and additional 160 villages with an area of about 758 Sq.km as delineated in Master Plan-2035.”