Ramban, Jan 28: Mismanagement by the traffic and police departments led to complete chaos on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, which was opened for one-way traffic on Saturday.
Hundreds of vehicles were stuck in hours-long traffic jam between Kud to Ramban and Banihal to Qazigund as traffic moved with snail’s pace throughout the day on Saturday.
Eyewitnesses said that though the traffic department had declared the highway open for one way traffic only, hundreds of vehicles were allowed to cross Jawahar Tunnel from Srinagar.
“Though the authorities were directed not to allow traffic from Srinagar side there were some obvious reasons that the traffic and police personnel allowed the two-way traffic”, an eyewitness said adding, “The absence of traffic personnel along the highway added to the chaos and hundreds of people were stuck in the jam.”
Passengers alleged that after stopping the vehicles at Qazigund in the morning, police allowed hundreds of vehicles to move towards Jammu. “The road was not slippery as the Beacon had done a remarkable job by clearing the snow, but allowing the vehicles from Kashmir and absence of traffic police personnel created trouble,” Abdul Rahim, a passenger alleged.
“The complete absence of the traffic police personnel all along the highway was also a reason for the mess,” Rahim said adding, “It took me around 2 hours to cover the distance from Patnitop to Ramban.”
However, a traffic police officer denied that there was chaos on the highway. “The traffic movement was slow after vehicles were allowed from Kashmir side despite the fact that the highway was opened for one way traffic only,” he said, preferring not to be named.
He added that highway will be open for one-way traffic only on Sunday as well. “Only vehicles from Srinagar to Jammu will be allowed, while no vehicle from Jammu will be allowed to move,” the officer said.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 IST