Indian cities are getting more and more congested. Traffic snarls are adversely affecting smooth running of administration. Schools, colleges and universities are feeling the impact of traffic bottlenecks resulting in large number of students missing their early classes. Jammu and Srinagar cities are no exception to this scenario. Some flyovers have already come up in the two cities but the amount of traffic that is seen on the roads shows that there is need of many more flyovers to be built and made functional to reduce congestion and its consequences. State R&B Department paid attention to the issue of traffic congestion at right time and made several suggestions of how to tackle it. One recommendation that had been adopted in many states was of building flyovers. This option of reducing traffic congestion had proved very effective.
There are some pre-requisites to building a flyover. The first is identifying the traffic sector that needs a flyover on priority basis and the second is funding. The factor of logistics also plays important role meaning how much demolishing work is to be done and how much would be the amount of compensation. Unfortunately, politics and vested interests continue to dog even this activity which is in the interests of general public. For example, there are still people who ask whether the under-construction Bikram Chowk to Presentation Convent flyover was really a priority of public interest or was it to cater to the interests of the creamy crust of Jammu society? Similarly, the proposed flyover from Rehari Chungi to Ambphala Morh has been a much debated question. The grapevine has that it was scuttled after final survey and DPR just because the vested interest was very much active. Some structures that had to be demolished are actually raised on Government land and if the flyover construction had begun, the land grabbers would not get anything for the land by way of compensation. In the same way the proposed flyover from Jewel Chowk to Canal, which is perhaps the most congested sector in the city, was scuttled because of pressure brought by business community of the area. Look at the traffic condition today on this sector and one will find what a chaos it is.
Now we are told that the Bikram Chowk-Presentation Convent flyover will be extended to Satwari Chowk and beyond 500 meters. This is a welcome decision and it is actually needed to make access to the airport easier and with less hassles. Also the Rehari Chungi to Ambphalla Morh flyover will reduce traffic on this sector. However, it appears that the ADB has shelved the Jewel – Canal flyover project because the State Government has not been able to submit the land acquisition and structures demolition project to the bank. The fact of the matter is that two sectors are most congested at the moment in Jammu. These are from Ambphalla Chowk to Janipur Power House and from Jewel Chowk to Talab Tiloo. These two sectors should have been taken up on priority basis as it would mean real transformation in the traffic situation in the city of Jammu. At the same time, traffic congestion on BC Road Bus Stand to Rehari Chungi is also among the most congested traffic lines.
What we would suggest is that a fresh study of traffic density in Jammu city should be conducted and the areas where flyovers are needed on priority should be identified. No politicization of identifying the areas should be entertained; it has to be purely an engineering project. There could be a couple of well-considered proposals for flyovers. With DPRs finalized, ADB, BRICS and other funding agencies should be contacted for approving the projects for funding. Thus a comprehensive plan of transforming Jammu traffic scenario has to be put on the table. The Government may or may not do it today but there will be no escaping from this inevitability. The earlier such venture is made the better because cost escalation knows no bounds.
We appreciate that initiative has been revived for perfecting the under-construction flyovers in the city. But to think that with completion of the under construction flyovers the traffic congestion problem of the city is solved is a misnomer. How many people need to go to the airport for taking flights, and how many people have to travel in various types of vehicles in congested areas of the city and it outskirts? We hope that authorities will sit down and think over the entire gamut of traffic scenario in the city of Jammu. Piecemeal treatment of traffic problem will not be a permanent solution. Authorities should concentrate on examining the traffic congestion issue of Jammu city in its entirety and not selectively.
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