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| Traffic jams, poor condition of Jmu-Sgr NHW give sleepless nights to commuters | | |  ASIF IQBAL NAIK
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Nov 30: Travelling on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NHW) along with Jammu-Kishtwar NHW has become a nightmarish experience for the commuters as they are forced to spend more than 10 hours to cover the distance which otherwise could take barely 5 to 6 hours.
The reason behind the slowdown of vehicular movement on these two vital road links is failed management of traffic flow which often leads to worst jams.
The nastiest experience is to travel between Ramban and Qazigund stretch of Jammu-Srinagar NHW. It has been often observed that hundreds of vehicles remain stranded for hours together in traffic jam in and around Udhampur and up to the road leading to Chenani-Nashri tunnel and much to the surprise; hardly any traffic cop or regular cops were seen performing the duty with regard to streamlining of the traffic on this stretch which is common passage for the commuters who travel on Jammu-Srinagar or Jammu- Kishtwar NHW.
The people slammed the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for their failure in maintaining the road surface adding that vehicles are being charged Rs 290 as toll while moving towards Srinagar, the breakup of which stands at Bantalab Nagrota (Rs 135), Nashri Tunnel (Rs 65) and at Awantipora on Anantnag-Srinagar stretch of NHW (Rs 90) while in cases of buses and other heavy vehicles it is almost double but sorry to say NHAI fails to provide better road connectivity to the people.
The people said that money on the name of road tax is being charged without roads and called for exemption of all the vehicles from toll till NHAI completes the under construction road project.
There is heavy traffic jam today from Ramsu to Banihal and people had to take around 5-6 hours to cover around 25-30 kms of journey.
“It is very difficult to travel on the road between Banihal and Ramban. We are suffering. We have to clear the loan and to feed our family,” said a cab driver travelling in between Banihal and Ramban, adding that due to the poor condition of the road they are forced to undertake only one trip in a day which is not sufficient for them to bear the running cost or paying the loan installments.
The people while talking to “Early Times” said that the Udhampur to Chenani and Ramban to Qazigund are the worst stretches on Jammu-Srinagar NHW where the up-gradation work is going on at snail pace, adding that the traffic jams had become the hallmark everyday as a result of which the people traveling on these roads face difficulty and uphill task to reach their respective destinations.
The people said that the up-gradation work along with continuous landslides on both the highways is going on since several years and are the major cause of concern, adding that the authorities at the helm of affairs have failed to address the issue.
They called on the authorities to expedite the road construction process so that people traveling on these National Highways heave a sigh of relief. |
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