Early Times Report
Jammu, Nov 8: Work on the ambitious four-laning of Jammu-Akhnoor road that started in 2017 has created chaos for commuters.
The works began in first of week of October, and after Darbar move in Jammu the rush of traffic on Jammu-Akhnoor has also increased. "Though the stretch between Pawan Ice-cream and Toph Puli has been declared as one-way traffic zone and the administration has deployed more cops to regulate traffic, on both side of the road one has to crawl for a long time", said Pragati, a student of Jammu University.
She said that "earlier the bus took 30 minutes to drop us at Bikram Chowk, but now it takes one hour or more almost. With the beginning of road work, students and employees are forced to reschedule their timing in morning. There should be an appropriate time for entry of commercial vehicles (heavy trucks)."
One can find trucks even during pressure hours, that is, morning and evening on the said stretch, Pragati added.
Questioning the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) for failing to stick to its schedule time, Mohit, a government employee, said that the Company should utilise time they have wasted during summer 'Darbar' in the Valley.
"In summer, the number of vehicles in Jammu city reduces. Hence, summer was the suitable time for taking up the road work, but at that time they axed trees along the road and wasted the valuable time", Mohit said.
Mukesh, another government employee, who is among the daily travellers who are facing inconvenience while passing through the stretch, said that the administration should immediately take some short term measures to overcome the situation.
"Darbar has reopened at winter and due to Pooja holidays people are busy. But from next Monday the city roads will see frequent jams, so it is right time to chalk-out a strategy to avoid chaos", Mukesh suggested.
It is pertinent to mention here that road widening work consists of four-lane and a service lane below. Heavy traffic had made this road prone to accidents and therefore the locals demanded widening of the stretch. |
