Sanjeev K Sharma
JAMMU, Nov 6: Traffic jams across the city here today created chaos with almost all the main roads and those in the interiors along with link roads getting badly chocked and the vehicles, mostly the two wheelers, even preferred to move through narrow lanes and streets to avoid being stuck in jams which rather hindered the movement of pedestrians.
The vehicles parked near shops and in lanes added to the misery due to which people failed to reach their destinations in time while the long and serpentine queues of stranded vehicles were witnessed almost on every road of Jammu city and also at some places in its peripheries.
Eyewitnesses claimed that such jams were not witnessed even on the day of Diwali festival, a day before.
The thick crowd of shoppers and vehicles plying through the city was seen after a lull of more than a year as there were restrictions due to COVID-19 pandemic.
More shocking was to see that only a few faces in the crowd had masks while social distancing was totally absent in the city and no law enforcement officer was there to check this open violation of COVID Appropriate Behaviour.
“It was Bhaiya Dooj today and traffic jams were very much expected yet the authorities concerned have not pressed their men in proper number to avoid this,” said Kavita, 29, who was stranded on her two-wheeler near High Court crossing on Janipur road.
Many more girls and women were seen in stranded mini-buses carrying boxes of sweets as they were on way to visit their brothers to apply specially prepared vermilion over the foreheads of their brothers—a ritual performed on Bhaiya Dooj.
Resentment against traffic authorities was clearly seen on the face of people stuck in traffic jams.
“I moved from Bakshi Nagar on my bike and it took me about an hour to reach my sister’s place in Janipur,” Sonu—a college student claimed.
Eyewitnesses said that old Jammu city, Gandhi Nagar, Bakshi Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Talab Tillo, Canal Road, Janipur and many more areas in the city were almost chocked and traffic cops were hardly seen clearing the jam.
When contacted Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Traffic Jammu, Koshal Sharma said though the traffic cops remained busy till evening to clear the jams but owing to the very large number of vehicles on road they too faced problems in clearing the roads.
“It was festival today and many shops were even extended to the roads to display their items,” he said adding that wrong parking in city was another reason for the traffic mess today.
The SSP also said that even there are no proper parking places in the city while road and other infrastructure in Jammu are like that vehicles are to ply and parked on the same roads which collectively creates such chaos but it is seen on very few days.
When contacted, Hitesh Gupta, Joint Commissioner Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) said, though the extended shops had permission for that but the same was not the only contributor for traffic jams.
“I have written to Police Department for assistance and soon action against such encroachers will be started,” he claimed.
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