Srinagar, Apr 24: Traffic mess on Hyderpora stretch of the Airport Road has worsened for the past few days since Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) blocked one of the two roads to construct a deep drain there.
 As a result, the flow of two way traffic passed through single lane –causing traffic jams on the Hyderpora chowk, which is already in mess due to “snail’s pace” work on under construction flyover at the square.
 In the given conditions, the traffic police finds it inconvenient to regulate the traffic flow coming from Airport towards the City because the vehicles have to ply on the wrong side.
 For the first few days, the traffic cops at the square, tried to give a left diversion to the vehicles heading towards the City. But this proved a failure as gridlocks could be seen lasting for hours even though the SP Traffic personally monitored the regulation.
 On Sunday, the Traffic police found no option but to try something new as it diverted the Airport traffic inflow towards a Kacha Road which connects to Rawal Pora via flood spill channel.
 This furthered the inconvenience for the people heading towards the City, particularly the tourists flying to Srinagar.
 “I was keen to come to Srinagar for holidaying but the first impression of the dusty bumpy Kacha Road to City proved a spoilsport… I plan to immediately go back,” said a visibly annoyed tourist, Ramesh Kumar from New Delhi.
 Ironically, while the Aam Aadmi and even the tourists are being put to inconvenience, the VIPs don’t have to bear the diversion on the dusty bumpy two mile long track as they get a go ahead on the Airport road.
 When contacted SP Traffic Srinagar Maqsood Uz Zaman said there was no other option to avoid traffic congestion than to divert the vehicles.
 “We tried all options but smooth flow of traffic remained a problem so the traffic had to be diverted,” the SP told Greater Kashmir.
 He said the project executing agency has been asked to complete the drainage work within a week.
 “To avoid any prolonged inconvenience to commuters, we have asked them (ERA) to finish the work within a week,” he said.
 Pertinently, the ERA work has been a major cause of inconvenience in the area.
 Meanwhile experts opine that the road divider near the Post Office lane be punctured to manage two lane system upto the Hyderpora square.
 “This is not possible for ERA, which is known for delays to complete the work within a week so its better that the authorities temporarily remove a part of the divider,” said a prominent engineer living in the area.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 24 Apr 2011 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 25 Apr 2011 00:00:00 IST