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| Immediate steps needed to check traffic jams ,road mishaps | | | The successive state Governments have failed to tackle traffic mess in the twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu and deaths in road accidents in the state,especially in the hilly areas of the region of Jammu.As far as traffic jams are concerned the number of four wheelers in the state has increased in geometric progression when the road development,widening and establishing parking lots have not experienced any major change during the last over 15 years.One cannot but feel confused over the way one has to waste a lot of time and face inconvenience while getting stuck in traffic jams.You have same roads,as far as their width is concerned,in the twin capital cities and the flyovers in Jammu and Srinagar cities have hardly reduced the level of traffic mess.Regular traffic jams and even road accidents are a natural process when on one side over 10,000 trucks,buses,cars,three and two wheelers are added annually in the state and on the other the road widening programme has been quite slow.Since more than 20,000 Government cars and other private vehicles land in Jammu city during the bi-annual durbar move and the same process is repeated in Srinagar when the Government offices close in Jammu and re-open in the state's summer capital the traffic jams and mess become a regular feature in the twin cities.
Similarly the Government has yet to find a solution to the growing problem of road accidents within the plains and in the hilly areas of the state.On an average between 700 and 1000 people die in road accidents per year in Jammu and Kashmir.Traffic Department authorities admit that during the last five years more people have died in road accidents than in militancy related incidents.Well the Government seems to shut its eyes on this problem.Tall promises on checking road accidents are made by the ruling politicians soon after each road mishap.Had the Government been serious about resolving the menace of road accidents one would not have seen as many as 1031 people die and 7056 people injured in over 5,000 road accidents in 2009.Most of these accidents take place in the hilly and farflung belts of Jammu and Kashmir including Doda. Kishtwar, Ramban, Udhampur, Reasi, Rajouri, Poonch, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Kupwara and on the 300-km long mountain road connecting Jammu with Srinagar.While most of the road accidents are the result of four wheelers skidding into gorges and ravines others are the outcome of human error and defective vehicles.
It has been seen that a large number of accidents are the result of overloading and rickety buses besides untrained drivers on the driving seats.Never an attempt has been made to penalise heavily those drivers who resort to overloading as means for minting money.It has been seen that drivers lose control of the steering or the vehicles develop major technical fault when the buses carry about 70 to 80 passengers against the seating capacity for 40 passengers.Never an attempts has been made to check the road worthiness of passenger buses travelling on the hilly routes in the state.The result is that buses having outlived their utility continue to ply on these hilly routes.Though the Border Roads Organisation has been carrying out year round repair and widening of the highway linking Jammu with Srinagar there are still certain areas which require proper widening in order to improve the road curves and bends.One thing is certain.without cracking a whip on the erring drivers and those who keeep on plying defective passenger buses on hilly routes the situation cannot improve.Side by side is the need for immdiate road widening and development programme not only in the twin capital cities but on the inter-district routes.This calls for a road development activity under a master plan.Road development programme executed in an inorganised manner may not serve the purpose.Hence hefty financial allocations are needed for road development sector every year. |
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