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With the opening of offices in summer capital, the traffic mess in the city is getting from bad to worse. Every day, commuters complain of massive traffic jams from most parts of the city. The situation is not better in areas connecting Srinagar with neighboring districts either. Towards south Kashmir, Panthachowk has been a constant bottleneck affecting the flow of traffic from both sides. The flow of traffic towards north Srinagar is not that good either. HMT Zainakote road is always in news for chock-a-block traffic. No doubt, the government has already started to widen the existing road infrastructure in these important sectors but nevertheless the trouble it continues to cause is colossal. People in Kashmir have somehow started to accept and acclimatize with the traffic mess there, but now the problem seems to be unending within the city itself. With so many projects going on, the condition of the city roads is distressing. Every day, there is one or other department doing its bit of ensuring road blocks. Some day it’s the telephone department, some other time it’s the laying of fiber optic cables while sometimes it is the water works department. To make matters worse, the constant digging and macadamizing of roads has been a constant detriment thereby ensuring that the flow of traffic is constantly hindered. The construction of JCRB flyover from Jehangir Chowk to Rambagh has added to the traffic woes. In all this one segment which is the most hit are the school going children. The government in its latest directive has asked private as well as government schools to ensure that the schools start at 8 AM which effectively means that the children have to start early. In some cases, they have to start as early as 6 AM.  As if it was not enough, children have to go through a continuous drill of moving to and fro from school. While coming back from schools which is mostly around 3 PM, the children have to sit in their cabs for hours together. This, to say the least, doesn’t drain them physically only but takes away the precious time which they could have invested in some productive work. The administration which more often than not cites Model Code of Conduct following the start of electioneering in the state has so far failed to ensure smooth flow of traffic on Srinagar roads. It is therefore incumbent upon them to work on it and ensure that the problems faced by commuters are sort out with.

Source-On Request