A jammed srinagar city

A Traffic Engineering cell needs to be created to study,analyse, design and suggest solutions to the traffic problems in the city ofSrinagar.

The geometrics of the existing roads need to be improved byway of widening at necessary spots according to the designed plan.

   

Ring roads to be provided around the city having three tofour lane width on each of the two parallel roads with designed crossings.

Properly designed Lay-byes for bus-stops need to be providedat fixed bus stops and the bus drivers be directed to eliminateboarding/de-boarding in between.

Defunct traffic signals and street lights need to bereactivated and maintained properly.

CCTV cameras be fixed at strategic spots to monitor thetraffic rule violations and deductions of fines be made from the bank accountsof the drivers responsible for the violation. This will avoid the sight oftraffic police on roadsides as in outside countries.

Public need to be educated about the traffic rules aspedestrian must be aware of the risks involved in walking through thevulnerable motor transport.

IRC Specification needs to be followed strictly in makingfoot paths usable. An example can be quoted about the 90-ft. 4-lane corridor,where height of foot-path has been provided about 2 feet against the IRCspecification of 9 inches only.

Road signs, speed limits and the destination names need tobe depicted prominently in bold letters on roadsides as observed by me in thegulf countries.

Shady trees need to be grown on the foot paths with properslopes at crossing points to make pedestrians walking comfortable.

Vendors continue to occupy footpaths leaving no space forthe pedestrians like at Batmaloo, Hari-Singh High Street, Lal Chowk, Soura roadat SKIMS etc. The menace continues to grow despite earmarking of vendor zonesby SMC.

Unused footpaths on 90 ft. road and at other places areillegally used for parking the cars on sale by the dealers which needs to bechecked.

Pedestrian crossings need to be provided with signal systemas in outside countries. Over-head bridges like the one outside Women’s Collegehave become redundant.

SkewD bridge on river Jhelum with substructure constructedfor motorable bridge with a huge investment of Rs. 12 Crores needs to bere-decked to make it trafficable.

In spite of the day-time ban on the entry of trucks/tippersin the city roads, violation has been observed by the tippers moving atbreathtaking speed on 90 ft. road and other internal roads during day time.

SMC tucks lifting city waste from the road-sides during peakhours of the traffic movement causes traffic jams. The process needs to becarried out in night hours as per practice outside.

In most of the city roads both sides of the roads remainoccupied by the parked vehicles leaving little space for the on-going trafficresulting in traffic jams.

Introduce mechanised inland water transport on river Jhelumand other water bodies, the DPR for which was prepared by M/S RITES in 1998-99when I was its Project Director. This would release lot of stress on citytransport besides serve as tourist attraction opening heritage sites and reviveold trade centres on river banks.

The unfinished Urban Renewal Scheme under Circular RoadProject where I served as Executive Engineer needS to be completed at fasttrack.

The number of vehicle-permits need to be restricted to theavailable road surface area in the city and other urban areas.

Multi-storeyed parking lots need to be planned andconstructed according to the increasing day to day demands.

SMC must ensure the implementation of the condition recordedon the building permissions of shopping malls to provide parking space in theirbasement floors. So far this condition has been found getting violated andunchecked.

Dare-devil youths are driving bikes at breathtaking speedsresulting into accidents. This need to be checked with heavy penalties.

Most of the road surface in the city has got dilapidated dueto severe winter conditions resulting into the damage of vehicles besidessnake-like movement of vehicles to avoid pot-holes causing accidents. Most ofthe summer season is over and the restoration of the damages is still pending.

Noise pollution caused by sounding pressure horns by trucksetc. needs to be checked. Blowing a horn is discouraged in outside countriesexcept on rare occasions.

Regional bus stands at Pantha Chowk for south Kashmir andParimpora for north side need to be well developed joined with city transport.

Lane driving needs to be got implemented strictly afterdeveloping the required infrastructure.

Cycle tracks need to be provided around Dal-Lake and alongJhelum banks besides other roads. Bicycles can be provided to tourists andlocals on hire as practiced in outside countries.

Rapid transport facility like metro rail and extension ofrailways to other districts of the State be planned and executed in time-boundmanner.

Dispersal of trade centres , offices and construction ofsatellite townships on hill slopes and karewas need to be planned to reduceconcentration of traffic in city centre.

Life expired uncomfortable mini-buses need to be gotreplaced with comfortable Mazda buses to avoid frequent accidents particularlyon hill roads.

Make public transport more comfortable for preferable use. Ihave found travelling in city buses more comfortable than in taxis in UAE.

Many technically approved projects are sabotaged bypoliticians and bureaucrats like Inland Water Transport on river Jhelum, Skewedbridge on river Jhelum near Convent School, Lal Mandi bridge on river Jhelum,which needs to be avoided.

(These suggestion were presented at a seminar on “TrafficProblems in Srinagar” at the State Centre of The Institution of Engineers(India) last month)

Er. Mohammad Ashraf Fazili FIE C.Eng (I) is former ChiefEngineer.

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