Jahangeer Ganaie
Bijbehara, Jan 5: Mismanagement of vehicular traffic by authorities in Bijbehara town has triggered chaos and chaos as the town reports huge traffic jams especially in morning and evening hours.
Residents of Bijbehara and other people visiting the town blame lack of parking space, mismanagement of traffic and non-compliance of traffic rules by the people as the reason behind the traffic congestion.
“People are also responsible as they often pull their vehicles on roadsides causing traffic jams. At several places, haphazard parking of vehicles hampers traffic movement. Some shopkeepers even park their vehicles on roads which are very narrow. This also leads to traffic jams and causes inconvenience to us,” said Irshad Hussain, a local.
Shakeel Ahmad, another local, said that traffic jams have become the order of the day in the town and this is mainly due to parking of vehicles along roadside and allowing heavy vehicles through the town in day time.
He said that traffic jams are reported from the PHE office to Padshahi Bagh and in Zirpora and on the same route a sub district hospital is located due to which patients have to suffer.
He said that vendors and shopkeepers are occupying footpaths due to which pedestrians are forced to walk on roads and it takes half an hour to cover just a few hundred meters.
“It takes an hour to cover just a few meters on the route on a daily basis in morning and evening as due to wrong parking and narrow roads besides absence of footpaths on some vital routes,” he said.
A group of employees said the persistent traffic jams have put their jobs at stake as they fail to reach their respective offices in time.
They said that the government had banned the entry of heavy motor vehicles in the town during day time but that the order is not being implemented on the ground.
Locals said that this 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 higher ups to look into the matter and take immediate steps in this regard.
