JAMMU:Traffic Police might be toiling hard on regulating traffic on the busy roads across Jammu city to ensure smooth vehicular movement but they have failed to check menace of livestock roaming around the busy routes endangering lives of motorists and pedestrians.
Spotting cows, buffaloes and other stray animals on the busy roads is a common sight in Jammu.
Stray animals moving on the highway often lead to accidents and sometimes fatal injuries to commuters. With every passing day unregulated movement of stray animals on many city roads is compounding the problems of motorists here in Jammu. Four soldiers lost their life when driver of the vehicle tried to avoid head on collision with the stray animals on the highway near Jatwal.
The most risky routes include Kunjwani bypass to Narwal, Arterial road connecting Tawi bridge with old city area, Sidhra Bypass, Jewel Chowk-Talab Tiloo, New Plot, Bakshi Nagar,Gandhi Nagar, Trikuta Nagar. Most of the time these animals occupy large spaces in the middle of the road leading to traffic jams and in some cases due to constant honking by motorists lead to head on collision.
From time to time Jammu Municipal Corporation launches token drive to lift stray animals including cows, dogs, mules etc but those dealing with livestock also care little about the traffic rules and come on the roads with large group of animals in search of green grass adding to the miseries of traffic cops and commuters on the high speed roads.
Seldom traffic police authorities have been seen penalising the owners of livestock who roam freely on the highway while moving up and down during change of weather and trek hundreds of kilometers on the National Highway along with their livestock.