Jams haunt commuters in Jehangir Chowk area

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, November 21

With shops opening and government transport vehicles back on the roads, Jehangir Chowk area in Srinagar city has been witnessing jams since past one-week.

Though new Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh expressway flyover was constructed to ease out chaos, traffic management in the area has gone haywire.

As Jahangir Chowk is a central point of the city, gridlock here halts traffic movement in other areas, including Central Lal Chowk, Budshah Chowk, Moulana Azad Road, Batamaloo and the Secretariat area.

“Such jams were witnesses when there was no flyover in the Jahangir Chowk area. It has to do with faulty design of the new flyover,” said a commuter.

Another commuter, Usman Zaffar, said, “Vehicles which come from Rambagh via new expressway flyover get halted once they reach Jahangir Chowk.”

The SSP Traffic, Srinagar city, also agreed that Jahangir Chowk area has been witnessing frequent gridlocks.

“First traffic from Rambagh area used to reach Jahangir Chowk through a single-lane road. Now, there is a double-lane road and traffic bottlenecks continue at the square,” the SSP said, adding that it had to do something with the design of the flyover.

Sources pointed out that the earlier design of the flyover was changed. According to it, one lane was to go above the old flyover to divert traffic from new expressway towards Badshah Chowk.