Sir,
The increased traffic rush in the Jammu city has posed a serious problem for the public of Jammu. It is creating a lot of problems for the daily commuters who reach the city of temples for their daily work and for the tourists who choose to spend a day or two for site seeing or to visit the temples situated in the Jammu city. To manage the traffic of 5 lac vehicles in a city with the population of 15 lac spread in thickly populated area is, of course, is a challenging job. The article ‘How to improve traffic in Jammu’ by the DIG traffic published in this paper on Nov 4, 2012 was quite informative and is regarded as good step to educate the people of Jammu who may not have a knowledge of lane driving.
But it will not be out of place to point out that more than 50 percent of congestions in the Old city are created by matador drivers who stop their vehicles to pick up the passengers anywhere and anytime without caring for the traffic jams. It is not rare to see them picking up the passengers by stopping the vehicles in the middle of the roads and do not care for bus stops which have been created for the purpose.
The second most important is that they park the vehicles just near the turn after the road signals with the result that rest of the vehicles cannot cross the traffic light within the signal period causing irregularity in the crossing time. At Shalimar, Vikram Chowk, Ambphala crossing, Jewel Chowk, Kachi Chhowni and Exhibition Chowk the matadors can be seen in a line making difficult for the normal flow of traffic. It is, therefore, a necessity to regulate the traffic of mini buses.
Yours etc….
Er. B.M.Kohli