SRINAGAR: Underscoring the need for joint efforts for ensuring better traffic management and road safety in the State, the Director General of Police (DGP), K. Rajendra Kumar on Thursday said that all stakeholders have to chalk out a comprehensive mechanism to avert traffic jams and road accidents.
Rajendra was addressing a meeting of traffic officers held at Police Headquarters (PHQ) here this morning.
The DGP while reviewing the traffic management, stressed for joint efforts by the stakeholders to bring visible improvements in traffic regulation. He said that due to free flow of surface traffic, alarming rise has been observed in road accidents and traffic jams. Traffic management has become daunting task and adoption of latest equipments is imperative to manage the surface traffic efficiently, said the DGP.
The recent devastating floods in the valley have worsened the road connectivity, putting the commuters in troubles. Many roads were washed out and bridges, culverts damaged posing a challenging task for traffic police to regulate the traffic, the DGP added.
Rajendra disclosed that additional manpower has been pressed into service, besides providing modern gadgets to bring improvements in traffic management. He said that awareness campaign has been launched by the Traffic Police in the state, which has received good response from the road users. He asked for great deal of dedication and coordination among different agencies, saying that though the task is being managed satisfactorily but there is scope for further improvements.
Rajendra also reviewed the status of National Highway which was damaged at various places due to heavy rains and landslides. He also enquired about the condition of alternate routes viz Mughal Road and Simthan-Kishtwar Road.
He was told that repairs of National Highway is being undertaken on war footing and one way vehicular traffic of light and medium vehicles has been diverted to these alternate routes till October 12.
Inspector General of Police (Traffic), Muneer Ahmed Khan apprised the meeting about plan chalked out post floods in the areas of Srinagar city and other rural areas. He said that many areas have become inaccessible, as the roads and link roads leading to these areas were washed away. Vehicular traffic on the existing roads has increased manifold and it is very difficult for traffic personnel to manage traffic on the damaged roads. Link roads passing along the river banks have been damaged at large including culverts with the result the traffic has been diverted towards the main roads increasing traffic flow on these roads. In this situation it has become very difficult to manage traffic at busiest junctions viz Rambagh, Pantha Chowk, Dalgate, Sanatnagar, Qamarwari, Parimpora and other places.
Khan said that debris thrown by the shopkeepers on road sides and frequent public dharnas in cities and towns have made the task more difficult as the traffic jams are taking much time to clear.
Rajendra directed the traffic officers to monitor the working of field staff effectively on day to day basis. He said that better supervision is imperative to ensure road safety and convenience of the people. He asked for regular review meetings of the concerned officers at different levels involving transporters and concerned agencies to bring desired results.