Srinagar, Oct 9: If all goes as planned, Jammu and Kashmir would soon join the elite club of states offering the underground rail transit network. The state government is working on introduction of Metro rail service in the twin cities of Srinagar and Jammu.
 “M/S RITES group has been engaged to prepare a comprehensive mobility plan for the capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar, taking into account all aspects of mobility, including pedestrians, covering long-term and short-term measures to overcome traffic congestion and introduction of metro rail,” the Minister for Transport Qamar Ali Akhoon said in a written reply to a question by MLA Chaman Lal Gupta to the Legislative Assembly Tuesday.
 Gupta had sought response from the government on the steps taken to overcome the problem of traffic jams/congestion in Jammu city.
 To ease traffic congestion, the government has already installed traffic signals at various places in the twin cities, the Minister said.
 He said the department has employed 207 under-lift arrangements for lifting vehicles blocking roads.
 “The traffic police have installed delineators, traffic cones and road dividers in the twin cities to discipline drivers,” said Akhoon.
 The frequency of accidents in Jammu and Kashmir has grown manifold in the past few years. Bad condition of the roads especially in the hilly areas like Doda, lack of manpower with the traffic department to ensure traffic discipline, overloading in far-flung areas and negligence by the drivers are among the reasons cited growing number of road accidents.
 As per the official figures, around 28917 people were killed in over 17500 road accidents across Jammu and Kashmir in past three years. More than 25,000 persons survived fatal accidents.
 The twin cities of Srinagar and Jammu have recorded 171 and 513 fatalities respectively during the same period.
 Jammu has highest number of vehicles at 33,353 compared to all other districts of the state.
 While more than 77000 new vehicles have been registered in Jammu district since 2010-11, the figures are around 35000 vehicles for Srinagar district.
 The overall registration of fresh vehicles in the state stands at 80,670 and 98,804 for 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 9 Oct 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 9 Oct 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 10 Oct 2012 00:00:00 IST