The frequent and long traffic jams on 4 km long Beehama-Nagbal road in Ganderbal has turned the life of daily commuters a nightmare as they get stuck on the roads for hours altogether.
Be it patients or students, everybody has to suffer the almost daily torture on the road. The traffic congestion extends upto Duderhama stretch as well. Not only commuters but pedestrians and locals often complain about the inconvenience created by the constant gridlocks.
Since some time now, the Arampora diversion in place has slightly lessened the traffic mess in the town but at the cost of commuters’ time to reach their respective places, locals said.
“While going back home, I remembered that I had misplaced my ATM card somewhere in Beehama market. I had to get off the bus and go back to search for it. On my way back, there was no vehicle to drop me at the chowk because all the traffic is diverted to Arampora route due to the traffic mess. It would have taken me two minutes by bus to get my ATM card back but unfortunately I had to go by foot which took me more than 15 minutes instead,” said Mohammed Shafi, a resident of Tullmulla.
On talking to Greater Kashmir, DC Ganderbal, Shafqat Iqbal said, “to streamline traffic better, we have decided to throw open Fatehpora route in five days. This diversion from Duderhama will save people some time who travel to Srinagar on a daily basis and will be a big relief to commuters. The road is ready but the recent snowfall delayed its finishing process.”
“To minimise the traffic through the market, we had to go for a double diversion plan. If the diversion wouldn’t be in place, everyone would prefer a shortcut route which would lead to more traffic mess in the market. People must cooperate with us because roads are not wide enough for traffic to ply smoothly so the diversions will possibly fix the regular traffic congestion in the town,” he added.
The Fatehpora route diversion via District Hospital Ganderbal will connect with SP office Ganderbal which will save commuters sufficient time to reach Srinagar for their routine work. The route diversion will be in effect within 4-5 days.
Vehicles moving to Kangan will be allowed to ply via Arampora route while those moving to Srinagar will be plying through Fatehpora route. The two route diversions will lead to less gridlocks in the town paving Ganderbal residents a smooth way to the main market and other activities.