Heavy traffic rush in a run up to Eid

At the time when important roads have become narrow because of the ongoing work on Srinagar Smart City Projects, effective handling of vehicular traffic rush during the days before Eid is more important.

Since there is still some time for this rush to begin and gain momentum, the concerned authorities must plan in advance the measures to deal with such a scenario.

It has been always seen that just before Eid, the markets witness heavy rush of people. This also increases the traffic flow on the roads. For last several years the scale of the rush in markets has been varying from Eid to Eid.

Sometimes the rush is heavy and sometimes it is not that heavy. But there always is rush both in the markets and also on roads. This time important roads are narrow because of the work on  smart projects.

This is leading to jamming during peak hours of the day. The passenger buses and sumos are disallowed to move through various roads including the Residency Road, Lal Chowk, and Maulana Azad Road.

Authorities say this has been done to prevent further traffic jamming in these areas and such restrictions will continue for some more time till the work is completed.

Lot of people including students, office goers and those working in private sector are facing inconvenience due to non-availability of passenger buses.

They have to cover lot of distance on foot to reach places, where they can catch a bus or a sumo.

During pre-Eid days  the people should not get trapped in long traffic jams and the traffic authorities must chalk out a plan and implement it.

The people must also co-operate. Otherwise there can be lot of chaos on roads due to traffic jamming. In the past Lal Chowk and its adjoining areas used to be centre of attraction for pre-Eid shopping.

However, the places could not retain it later because of the opening up of shopping malls, big departmental stores and other shops in other parts of the city.

The pre-Eid rush is likely to be witnessed in most big markets of the city. So the traffic rush will increase on all important roads of the city.

The traffic officials can succeed in handling the increasing traffic rush with the cooperation of those driving on the roads.

Wrong parking on roads in such a scenario can create more problems for the smooth movement of the traffic. This should be discouraged and the vehicles must be properly kept in parking places before heading for shopping.

Efforts should be made that there are no long traffic jams on the roads and those travelling should not be put to any inconvenience.