I have been reading the City Page news reports and other write-ups about traffic mess in Srinagar. The recent We The Srinagarites column by Dr Faiz Fazli was an interesting read about the menace of minors on the wheels.
 Recently, I had a near close shave by a teenage speedster. I was near a crossing trying to make my way ahead.  It was lashing rain and the weather was terrible. One could barely see the road up ahead let alone the other traffic. As I waited for the chance to turn around, a car pulled up alongside me.
 Glancing briefly to the left, I saw the familiar number plate on the windscreen.
 The car was a six-cylinder and the young driver at the steering seemed far too eager to put each cylinder to use. “Alright buddy”, I grumbled as I heard the intermittent and very familiar revving of his car: “hold your horses”. The traffic direction changed and the young driver shot off like a bullet. I shook my head. “What an idiot!” No sooner had the words left my mouth than I saw the driver lose control, slamming his brakes and swerving along the road. Luckily the opposite lane was empty.
  “Alas!” I yelled with horror, fearing the worst. Thankfully the young man regained control of his car but then, as though he needed to prove some point, sped off even faster up the road. It was enough to make anyone sick. What a superstar! This sort of craziness drives me up the walls – what sort of maniac drives like this?
 Think of clean roads and organized traffic, cities like London or Pune come to your mind. But it always leaves the Srinagar high and dry with a dream of ‘If ever we will have ….”
 But it takes more than a sigh to make Srinagar City safe for commuters. It needs citizens' initiative and a tough policing system. If the letters pouring into the GK mailbox and City Page columns is any indication, then people are; indeed, ready to take the responsibility for bettering Srinagar by doing their bit.
 Then again, for every conscientious citizen, there are so many traffic violators who jump lanes with impunity. And rarely do the traffic police pull up such offenders. Ideally, citizens must realize the need to follow traffic rules on their own. But considering our world is far from ideal, the powers that be must crack the whip on offenders to drive home the point.

Dr Rafiq Khan
(The Ideas expressed are author’s own)

Lastupdate on : Sun, 30 Jan 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
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