Put in place robust mechanism to regulate Srinagar-Jammu highway traffic, officials told

Jammu, September 27

A day after fruit growers of Kashmir held protests over the traffic disruption on the Srinagar-Jammu highway, Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta on Tuesday held a meeting to take stock of the traffic movement on the highway.

He stressed on putting in place a robust mechanism to regulate traffic of heavy motor vehicles (HMV) at critical points on the vital stretch. The meeting held in Jammu was attended by officials of the administration, the traffic police and the NHAI. The Chief Secretary instructed traffic officials to issue daily bulletin for stakeholders, mentioning travel time taken by heavy motor vehicles from Qazigund to Jakhani, loss of time due to shooting stones at Cafteria Morh, Mehar, and number of vehicles waiting to leave for Jammu.

Mehta also stressed on putting in place the robust communication and information mechanism by the traffic police so as to regulate the HMV traffic at critical points, like Qazigund- Banihal, Banihal market, Sherbibi and Panthayal.

Officials were asked to augment manpower requirement from all sources to regulate traffic in an optimal manner, besides enforcing lane discipline on the critical stretches between Ramban and Banihal.

Moreover, the Ramban administration was instructed to ensure deployment of adequate manpower and traffic management team at Banihal. Farmers as well as traders are worried as thousands of trucks carrying fruits are stuck on the highway for days. Rotting has begun, they say.