Recently, the State Governor inaugurated a grade separator near the Tourist Reception Centre. Also the Rambagh-Jahangir Chowk fly over which has been under construction for almost eight years is expected to be made fully functional by the beginning of June this year. Well, both these projects are good for facilitating traffic movement especially VIP movement to Civil Secretariat and Airport. The people using these would avoid the mind-boggling traffic congestion in the heart of the city. However, the one good thing is not going to bring in the summer of ease in movement for common people. Of course, it is part of traffic engineering to provide fly overs, grade-separators, lane markers and above everything else proper and sufficient parking. However, the most important requirement is to have proper roads with good paved up surfaces. Well, at the present moment almost all important roads in the valley and especially in the capital city of Srinagar are pot-holed! Srinagar is becoming a city of pot-holes.
The driving is not only difficult but even dangerous, especially at night. Nobody bothered about these roads till the “Durbar” was at Jammu. Now that the government after a comfortable sojourn in the salubrious winter climate of Jammu has returned, people have started taking some action to redress this grievance of the locals. The best action being taken at present is the standard “Patch Work” to fill in the holes. If the government does not want to earn a rebuke on this, they have to take some strong action and ensure proper surfacing up of all the valley roads including the “Smart” capital city of Srinagar. There is also need to constitute a Task Force of Engineers and Officers to investigate why does this pot-holing happen hardly within a few months of mechanised paving of the roads usually done in the wrong season without sticking to the essential specifications! This thing is taking a scandalous proportion and deserves immediate, and a very serious, attention.