Srinagar, June 14: The public transport system in the City has gone so miserable that it often takes less time to travel from south Kashmir’s Pulwama district to Srinagar than what it takes from Lal Chowk to Soura, a mere seven odd mile distance. And a key reason to this mess is that over two decades on, the government has failed to revamp the route plans for buses in the summer Capital thereby putting Aadmi Aadmi’s travel to inconvenience.
 A travel by bus in the City wastes considerable time of a common man for two main reasons. Firstly, the allegedly erring drivers resort to frequent stops. Second, the routes they ply on have been so “ill designed” that commuters have to unnecessarily get struck in traffic jams.

CITY CENTRE MESS
 Take the case of buses plying on the busy Batamaloo-Dalgate track. Instead of the straight drive via MA Road, which is of mere two odd mile distance, the buses are subjected to diversion via congested Maisuma and Gowkadal areas.
 This is where the trouble arises. The bus drivers are often seen opting for frequent stops while the roadside parking of private cars and workshops furthers the congestion. As a result, traffic jams are frequently witnessed on the road.
 As if this wasn’t enough, the buses are forced to drive on a narrow road to Munawarabad from where they reach MA Road to proceed towards Dalgate or Sonawar.
 This “undue” diversion costs at-least half an hour more for the traveller. And if the traffic congestion en-route is more, so furthers the inconvenience for the Aam Aadmi.
 The bus travel back towards Batamaloo is equally pesky. Apart from indulging into frequent stops upto Lal Chowk, the buses finally, take a long halt on Amira Kadal bridge.
 The bridge has gone so infamous for traffic jams by buses that hardly any private vehicle plies on the road taking the place as a “congested bus stand”.

THE OTHER CONFUSION
 Take the case of buses destined for north City areas like Hawal, Lal Bazar and Soura. The passengers have to take an unnecessary four odd kilometer diversion via south City.
 A bus heading from Lal Chowk to Soura takes diversion from Maharaja Bazar-LD Hospital- Raj Bagh track to reach TRC where from it proceeds towards Dalgate and then north City.
 The government has failed to reply as to why north City bound passengers are subjected to diversion via south.
 Call it mockery of route plans or callousness towards the Aam Aadmi, but if the north City traffic is in a mess, so is the bus travel to the south. The buses heading from Jehangir Chowk to Humhama are made to take a three kilometer diversion via congested Batamaloo and Magarmal Bagh only to reach a crossing, which is merely 300 yards away from Jehangir Chowk itself.

RTA IN SLUMBER
 Periodic meeting of Road Transport Authorities to get rid of the messy route plans is awaited for over two decades, source said.
 In 2009, the DDC Srinagar Meraj Ahmed Kakroo had said the meeting would be convened soon to revamp the routes. But his promise remains a promise.

THE PENDING PROPOSALS
 The same year the Traffic police had proposed a major reshuffle in the traffic system in the City. Two ring roads were on the cards. An outer ring road which would go from Batmaloo, Pantha Chowk,  Batwara, Dalgate, Gupkar road, Foreshore road and back to Batmaloo via Ali Jan road.
 And an inner Ring Road was expected to be Lal Chowk centric. It would go from Batmaloo, Magarmal Bagh, Rajbagh, Foreshore road and back to Batmaloo via Ali Jan Road. Different color strips were to be painted on the buses to identify their routes and speed. But nothing was delivered.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 14 Jun 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 IST