ANANTNAG: Chaos, chaos everywhere this is traffic situation in Anantnag. Every person must have experienced severe traffic mess one day or the other. People get stranded in traffic disorder for long hours. If we put together the time spend in traffic jams, it might be many months put together. In the glimpse of an eye, one gets caught in the center of a mess for long hours.
The destination which should take just 20 minutes actually takes more than an hour. This is the traffic scenario in Anantnag. The story is same for all the streets-be it the highway or streets of cities or towns. The story is about disorder and confusion.
Who should be blamed for this mess? Vendors and shopkeepers who display their stuffs on the pavement, public who walk on the streets, traffic police who fail to implement traffic rules or the government. If all of us contribute our bit, this problem can be reduced to a large extent.
Starting with, the ratio of vehicles to roads has a huge difference. Since Mour childhood the roads are the same while vehicles have increased enormously. In the course of traffic jam, when one lane is formed, within few seconds there are at least four more lanes of vehicles on the same track creating ultimate chaos-thus leaving passengers stuck for hours.
If people of any village have complaints with any department say PDD or PHE, in a fit of rage, angry protestors block the roads, putting hundreds and thousands of people hostage. In these situations ambulances too get stuck in these blockages leaving patients in very uncertain situation. In one such instance, for almost two hours my family was caught in a traffic mess four kilometers away from home. They were coming home from hospital.
Every now and then it is very disappointing to see that emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire brigades are stuck in traffic jams while undeserving ones cross all obstacles without any difficulties. Trucks can be seen plying on the roads all the time of the day. Despite all the mess, white ambassadors and security vehiclesmove with ease through these traffic jams.
What can be the possible solution?
In order to regulate traffic, there should be coordination among different agencies of the government. As per official statics, 12, 95,780 vehicles have been registered by Motor vehicles departmentup to August 2015. One can imagine the increase in vehicles in the next coupls of years.
Bank should stop providing loans for purchasing cars. Licenses should be given only to those who deserve it. Narrow roads should be automobile free zones as log jams are common. In these areas, public can use alternative means of transport; they can walk or use bicycles in these places. To ease the traffic, flyovers can be constructed which can reduce the road traffic on the main roads.
Kashmir is a world tourist destination place so our roads should be well maintained. There should be proper and systematic way of parking of all types of vehicles. Parking shouldnt be allowed on the roads and in front of shops.
To cope up with these issues, the need of the hour is developing adequate infrastructure, modern technical methods and more man power. There has to be a proper mobility plan in place to avoid traffic mess. A proper master plan has never been in place. It has to move beyond paper work. Implementation of traffic rules is missing. Drivers of both private and public vehicles can play their role in avoiding traffic jams. They can just create single line instead of creating double or triple lane. This seems a small step but it will definitely make a difference. Traffic police should be placed in all the major roads of cities and towns in order to avoid traffic jams.
Government always cannot be held responsible for irregularities in traffic flow, Public can play their role in reducing traffic mess. There should be Traffic awareness programs which can educate the public. People should obey traffic rules and regulations which will benefit the masses.
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