Congestion-Halt to vehicular movement

The congested roads in Srinagar have got more shrunk ahead of the Muslim festival, Eid-ul-Fitr, as the street vendors have occupied the roadsides further, causing inconvenience to the commuters here. The smooth passage to the vehicular movement is a distant dream at present, especially at some junctures including at Amira Kadal where the footpaths are completely occupied by the street vendors and the pedestrians are forced to walk on the mid of the road, which is not only risking their lives, but has lead to the sufferings of commuters as well. One fails to understand that despite providing the street vendors a suitable place at some places including Mecca market in Lal Chowk and vending zone at Magarmal Bagh, why the street vendors continue to occupy the roadsides illegally. The situation is turning ugly with each passing day as it seems that more and more street vendors are erecting their carts at the busiest places, which is leaving the commuters to lurch at large. Although the concerned Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) multiple times so far claimed to have started taking action against the people who are illegally occupying the roadsides, however, the situation remained unchanged on the ground, thus simultaneously adding to the miseries of the commuters as well as the pedestrians. The million dollar question remains that when are people supposed to heave a sigh of relief from such illegal roadside encroachments. It seems that the initiatives of providing the street vendors suitable place for running their business has failed to serve the cause. Therefore, at this juncture, the concerned department and officials must come up with a final solution in this regard so that the commuters here could heave a sigh of relief.