Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Apr 19: Even after the lapse of four long years, the Bus Stand constructed for the Banihal route and Katra-Reasi buses at Khanpur near Nagrota Bypass could not be made operational till date, while the BC Road near Jammu Bus Stand has been virtually converted into undeclared Bus, Mini-Bus and Taxi/ Sumo Stand for Jammu-Srinagar, Rajouri-Poonch and Doda-Kishtwar routes vehicles.
Under the nose of the divisional and the district administration Jammu, a ‘traffic mess’ has been created right from Bakshi Nagar crossing up to Jewel Chowk but the people those at the helm of affairs have turned a blind eye toward this mess. Even the Traffic Police Jammu and the Regional Transport Authorities have never bothered to clear this bottle-neck and provide relief to the general public. The permanent Bus and Taxi/ Sumo/ Tempo Traveler Stand on the Road near General Bus Stand has become a chronic problems which needs immediate attention of the Administration and proper monitoring by the senior Traffic Police and Transport department officials.
On both sides of the B C Road, just near KC Theatre and Model Academy, the idle parking of the buses of Jammu-Billawar and Jammu -Kathua route has become the cause of traffic congestion. At Bakshi Nagar crossing and also at KC Chowk, the mini-buses have created permanent traffic congestion. Ban Talab-Kot Bhalwal mini buses have created it as undeclared Bus Stand and they keep their vehicles parked there without bothering for the Traffic cops deployed there for the reason `best known’ to all.
In the evening, the Video Coach buses for Delhi-Chandigarh and other locations operate from BC Road only and Administration never bothered for the creation of additional bus stand for the purpose and minimize traffic load on this area. Similar is the position at Maheshpura Chowk, where mini-buses/ buses have covered the road and `Reharis/ Pharis’ the foot paths under the nose of Jammu Municipal Corporation, District Traffic Police authorities and the district administration.
It is surprising to note that on the eve of Republic Day and Independence Day , the entire BC Road area is cleared by the Traffic and local Police authorities for the `so called’ security reasons and free movement of the VIP vehicles but after that, keeping this road clear for smooth flow of traffic is nobody’s priority. The Traffic cops and even the officers enforce traffic regulation only when a VIP happens to pass through that area and to facilitate general public is not their priority.
A mini-bus stand was created for the Ban Talab route mini-buses just closer to MLA Hostel under flyover, but the concerned agency officials raised a large number of workshops inside the complex and now that site has become for workshops operation only to repair vehicles and grabbed by those running these shops while the Bus stand has come on the road. But every agency shirks its responsibility.
Interestingly, to get rid of the traffic mess around Jammu Bus Stand, administration proposed new Bus Stand for idle buses at Khanpur near Nagrota Bypass for Banihal Route buses about eight years back and also another one near Paloura for Rajouri-Poonch route buses. Jammu Development Authority (JDA) created this facility on nearly 100 kanals of area and also raised around 30 shops there. The bus stand is ready but unfortunately lying unused for the last about four years. The Administration has utterly failed to shift the idle buses from Jammu Bus Stand and BC Road to Khanpur despite severe criticism by the media.
Over Rs 15 crores of public exchequer is said to have gone waste as the Bus operators have refused to move about 10 kms away from Jammu Bus stand for availing parking facility. The planners and officers in the Administration, responsible for raising this bus stand failed to realize this fact. Even after eight years JDA failed to acquire land for Paloura Bus Stand being created over 200 kanals of land till date. If this facility would have been created, the traffic load of Poonch-Rahouri could have been shifted outside BC Road.
Mubarak Singh, Vice Chairman JDA when contacted said that for developing Khanpur Bus Stand, JDA’s role was just to raise facility. “We did our part and also raised over two dozen shops, toilet complex, rest hall for the drivers etc but it is up to the State Road Transport authorities to shift the buses there and put it to use.”
Responding to another question regarding status of proposed Paloura Bus Stand on Akhnoor Road, Mubarak Singh said that entire land could not be acquired so far. He said this bus stand for Rajouri-Poonch buses is being created on nearly 200 Kanals of land and Rs 7 crore is the land cost. On the completion period of this project the VC JDA remained non-committal but said that this project has actually not taken off. He put the project cost around Rs 35-40 crores. Regarding, mess at Jammu Bus Stand and BC Road, Mr Singh said the concerned agencies including Traffic Police and Transport authorities must take cognizance of the matter.
Divisional Commissioner, Jammu Dr Pawan Kotwal, though admitted that idle parking near Jammu Bus Stand and also B C Road has become major cause of traffic jams, yet maintained that Administration took some initiatives which are needed to be implemented involving all the concerned agencies. He said Bus Stand at Khanpur near Nagrota was constructed for idle parking but the operators are not prepared to go there.
When asked was it the ill-planning and sheer wastage of public money by the then officers at the helm of affairs, Dr Kotwal said, “During recent Road Safety Council Meeting we took review of these things and it was decided that idle buses of Banihal -Katra route would be shifted to Khanpur and it was also decided that Transport Commissioner would issue a notification compensating these vehicle operators in terms of fuel consumption being away from General Bus Stand. We will be shifting them to that location shortly,” Kotwal maintained.
Referring to construction of Bus Stand at Paloura for the last 7-8 years, Kotwal said that land acquisition process was in progress. He said the JDA has been involved in the process and huge private land is also being acquired. It will help in minimizing traffic load at BC Road and Bus Stand. ISBT has already been almost made functional at Narwal and decision regarding shifting of Inter-state private buses, Tempo travelers/ Sumos and mini-buses from B C Road would be taken shortly, the Divisional Commissioner maintained.
RTO Jammu, Ashwani Kumar, however, said that his officers launched drive to clear BC Road and Bus Stand areas a twice but due to the political interference, the drive had to be stopped. He said that this is chronic problem and needed to be solved by involving other agencies so that suitable sites could be identified for the Stands for commercial medium and light vehicles operating between Jammu-Srinagar, Poonch-Rajouri, Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban and Jammu-Katra-Reasi routes. He said if traffic and local police performs its duty sincerely, over 80 % traffic chaos in this particular area will be over.
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