Ensure hassle-free movement for commuters

Jammu and Kashmir is blessed with the pristine beauty and thus attracts the people from across the globe to visit here. However, the frequent traffic congestion on the roads has been giving tough times to the visitors, who are being forced to spend hours in the traffic. There are multiple factors that led to the traffic congestion. One such reason is the illegal occupation of the roadsides. The major portion of the footpaths and even roads are occupied by the roadside vendors, which also end up hampering the vehicular movement. But, one fails to understand why the visitors are being pushed to the wall, by not taking the serious measures in this regard. In Srinagar alone, some of the areas and markets remain under the illegal occupation of the street vendors. Such a situation is being witnessed at a time when the government under the much-hyped Srinagar Smart City Limited (SSCL) established the smart vending zones for them—the space, which continues to remain unutilized for years now. The use of these smart vending zones could have provided much relief to the people on roads, but since the number of street vendors continue to increase on the roads, it is becoming more awful for the commuters to reach their destinations. At a time when the government has been making efforts to tackle the challenge of ensuring hassle-free movement for commuters, it must consider removing the street vendors from illegal occupation of the roadsides, especially at the crucial junctures, so that the situation can be easily tackled and the visitors as well as the locals, could heave a sigh of relief.