Frequent traffic jams irk commuters in Pulwama, Shopian town

Srinagar, Dec 27: The mismanagement of the traffic has left Pulwama and Shopian towns in South Kashmir in complete mess which is causing inconvenience to people.
Locals from Pulwama said that the reason behind the mess is due to dozens of stands operational in twin towns, lack of parking space, mismanagement of traffic, absence of footpaths and other issues.
Due to unavailability of parking space in the main town Pulwama, people often pull their vehicles on roadsides which cause long and frequent traffic jams, Mohammad Yousuf a local resident said.
“There is no civic sense in public. Wherever there are parking facilities, people are not using it and are haphazardly parking their vehicles on roads which are already narrow,” Yousuf said.
At several places, haphazard parking of vehicles hampers traffic movement. Some shopkeepers even park their vehicles in markets. This also leads to traffic jams and causes inconvenience to us, he said.
Younis Ahmad, another local from the district said that traffic jams have become the order of the day in the town which according to him is mainly due to parking of vehicles along the road side and absence of footpaths.
He said that vendors and shopkeepers are occupying the main roads due to which pedestrians are forced to walk on the already narrow roads and it takes half an hour to cover just a 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.
The traffic jam can be witnessed anytime in day near Murran chowk, hospital road and other main points due to which hundreds of people are suffering, they said.
He said that there are dozens of sumo stands in the town whose entry into the main town wasn’t allowed and were allowed to function from the outskirts of town “but now they too have started to function from the main town which is adding to the traffic mess.”
Locals said that this issue was brought in notice of concerned higher ups several times, however, nothing changed on ground as promises of officials proved short lived.
Locals from Shopian town also said that traffic jams have become the order of the day in the town due to which they are suffering.
They said that the recent ban on entry of heavy motor vehicles in town by the Deputy Commissioner has given some relief but there is need to take more steps for the management of the traffic in the area.
Locals from both towns once again requested higher ups to look into the matter and take steps so that the public can heave a sigh of relief.