Hyder Ali
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Apr 8: The summer capital of Srinagar is headed for a major chaos on roads from next week as the authorities have decided to close down traffic on the arterial Jehangir Chowk- Ram Bagh (JCRB) road here, where a major flyover is under construction since 2013.
Though the authorities have announced a diversion plan for the key route to City center, it is "half-baked" and "politically motivated".
Highly placed sources said in the wake of ongoing tussle between some top Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders, including the MLA in whose constituency the flyover is coming up, the administration has been unable to take proper decisions with regard to traffic management.
Batamaloo constituency, has become a "bone of contention" over traffic regulation, as a main bus stand in the area needs to be relocated. The PDP MP still yields power in the constituency through his loyalist MLA, who represents this Assembly constituency.
Relocation of the bus stand to pave way for smooth flow of traffic through a proposed corridor would simply mean dislocation of hundreds of street vendors, who have time and again threatened of protests, something which would be against the "interests of the local PDP MLA."
The MLA is determined to fight for the cause of his constituency, which is central to Srinagar. As of now, both the PDP leaders have already been on loggerheads.
Official documents, a copy of which lies with Early Times, reveal that last year the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon was asked to get the Batamaloo bus stand "temporarily" shifted to the Parim Pora forthwith. However the administration remained silent only due to political interference of a top PDP leader having vote-bank at stake in the Batamaloo constituency.
In 2014, the then District Commissioner Farooq Ahmed Shah had taken the first big leap, by getting road dividers installed for the traffic diversion on the Batamallo bus terminal-Mominabad route, which has a two way access between Srinagar-Jammu highway and the Central Business District(CBD).
But officials said the corridor failed to serve the purpose due to administrative failure in getting shifted the bus terminal, which lies enroute.
Sources said last year Samoon had almost decided to get the bus stand shifted but he was pressurized to think otherwise.
Though officials subsequently remained silent, the recent collapse of a flyover in West Bengal set the alarm bells ringing. Last month, Governor NN Vohra directed Divisional Commissioner for safety audit of the JRCB flyover.
This was when the administration got cornered. On April 6, Samoon called a meeting to decide on the issue. Apart from others, Chief Engineer R&B Satish Kumar Razdan was also present.
Shedding responsibility for any untoward incident, the Economic Reconstruction Agency, which is constructing the flyover, said it should not be blamed on any account. Pleading their point the ERA Director said: "Much before the Bengal incident, we had conveyed our apprehensions to the authorities over accidents and sought closure of traffic movement on JCRB route. The SSP Traffic Srinagar Maqsood Ul Zaman echoed similar woes.
But some of the fundamental norms needed for such diversion plans were ignored altogether. Officials said before going for such a mega diversion, which will impact life in Srinagar for months to come, it was mandatory for the administration to call a "consultative committee meeting" comprising members including traffic experts, member from civil society, business community, journalists and the concerned MLAs. But this was avoided.
"Calling the lawmakers to the meeting would mean that the local MLA would come face-to-face with the administration. We were asked not to do so," confirmed a senior official.
Call it fate or coincidence, in April last year, the local MLA, who was then a minister had called a "consultative committee meeting" on traffic regulation in Srinagar.
Sources said in the absence of "proper homework", the SSP Traffic hurriedly issued the diversion plan. But the Traffic police is apprehensive of its success. "If this idea fails, you tell us the better one, we will apply that," Zaman told the media persons.
Sources said the traffic police is so apprehensive of the diversion, that it failed to execute it from April 8 deadline. "We will try it on Sunday as we have no other options," said a traffic police official. |
