Srinagar, Sept 4: If the mainstream parties are hell bent to go for political rallies in Srinagar, why not to make them host the shows on the outskirts along the highway than the already congested City centre? This question has been doing the rounds in the minds of many even as traffic mess continues to swell on the rally days furthering inconvenience for Aam Aadmi.

WIN-WIN IDEA
 Observers said the Srinagar Development Authority owned land in the form of truck and bus terminals at Parimpora and Athwajan respectively could provide an ideal location for holding of the political functions.  And the benefits are expected to be manifold if these twin locations, which are mostly idle, are utilized.
 First, being ideally located on the Srinagar -Muzaffarabad highway, the entry of rally bound vehicles into the City centre vis-à-vis traffic mess could be avoided. Second, travel for participants driving down from north, south and central Kashmir would be easy as all of them would take the south City bypass without any need of entering the civil lines. Third, the SDA could generate revue by charging rentals from the clients. 

SDA WILLING
 Sources said majority of officials at SDA were wiling to provide the space on rentals. “Our land remains idle most of the time…It would be really beneficial for the organization if we offer the space for political rallies on rentals,” said a SDA official adding that the move could generate substantial revenue for the organization and also help in traffic decongestion.

DDC KEEN
 Interestingly, the District Development Commissioner Meraj Ahmed Kakroo is also willing to consider the suggestion. “This is a suggestion which can be examined,” he told Greater Kashmir while admitting that Aam Aadmi was facing inconvenience because of the rallies held in the City centre.

WHO’LL BELL THE CAT
 Observers said Mubarak Gul, Advisor to Chief Minister who also happens to be a City MLA and has been monitoring the City developments for quite sometime should call a meeting of concerned and get the matter resolved. Chances of resistance from within his party circles are bleak because the party enjoys all the eight constituency seats from Srinagar, the City which often suffers because of “inconvenient venue for the rallies.” 

AAM AADMI’S SUFFERING
 Pertinently notwithstanding the claims of the mainstream parties that they work for the betterment of the people, it’s the common man down the street who apparently suffers the most because of rallies held at places like Polo Ground, SK Cricket Stadium, SK Park and Sri Pratap Park. The authorities on the other hand don’t hesitate to give permissions for assemblage of thousands of party workers who pour in from various parts of Kashmir. 
 And, it’s not only the City centre area between Dalgate and Batamaloo alone which faces the worst of the traffic jams. Almost all roads leading to Srinagar end up in a soup as huge number of vehicles ferrying party activists keep traversing the City roads. The parks and playfields they assemble at too get damaged and it takes months to recover. But before that another rally is held and the Aam Aadmi gets stuck in jams and the cycle continues.

WE HAVE NO OBJECTIONS, IT’S A WONDERFUL PROPOSAL: NC
MUBARAK GUL, a senior National Conference leader and Advisor to Chief Minister said the proposal to hold rallies at Patha Chowk or Parimpora yards was something worth discussion and be given a practical shape.
“We have no objections. We are for the people to help them, not to put them to any difficulty by way of things like traffic jams because of rallies,” Gul told Greater Kashmir.
“I truly like the proposal because people(party activists) coming in from south Kashmir and the north can easily reach the venue via bypass without any inconvenience for anyone, I feel so,” he said. “It’s a really good proposal and I like it,” he added.

WE’RE READY, HAVE NO ISSUES: PDP
THE opposition Peoples Democratic Party said it was ready to hold rallies anywhere. “We are ready anywhere. We are fully with that. We have no issues,” the PDP spokesman Naeem Akhter said.
 He, however, said the park at Sonawar adjacent to SK Cricket Stadium, where a cricket academy is coming up, had been an ideal location for holding of political rallies.
 “But this was destroyed by Farooq Abdullah in the name of construction of cricket academy primarily because of his political vendetta,” Akhter said.
 Referring to the flagging off of the Srinagar Muzaffarabad bus service by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh from the Sonawar park and the “beginning of peace process by his predecessor” Atal Behari Vajpayee during the PDP rule, Akhter said  “greatest ever” historic occasions had taken place from the venue.
 “He (Farooq Abdullah) wanted to erase everything connected to the historic events.”

WE REALLY NEED TO THINK OVER IT: CONGRESS
SENIOR Congress leader and Member Parliament Professor Saif Ud Din Soz said the matter needs to be discussed in the backdrop of the fact that traffic has increased in the City and that the rallies could be furthering the congestion.
 “We need to think over it so that a dignified way out is found,” he said.
 “Rallies should be possible in a democratic way but at the same time others who are not a part of it should also have the freedom to use the road,” Professor Soz added.
 He said the SK Cricket stadium could be ideal place for holding the rallies.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 4 Sep 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 4 Sep 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 5 Sep 2011 00:00:00 IST