Traffic mess on Srinagar streets ahead of Eid

Srinagar, Aug, 20: Ahead of Eid ul Azha, vendors have occupied roadsides in and around the city centre, Lal Chowk, resulting in inconvenience to the people.

As the Muslim festival of sacrifice, to be celebrated on August 22, is drawing nearer, the vendors have begun selling their merchandise on the stalls set randomly along the waysides. It results in traffic mess on the streets.

A commuter, Afaan said, “I was caught in a traffic jam near the clock tower at Lal Chowk. It is easy to travel by foot than in a private vehicle, as roads are fully occupied by the vendors. It took me more than half an hour to travel from the clock tower to Amira Kadal Bridge.”

Muzamil, another commuter, said, “It took me almost an hour to reach Residency Road from Amira Kadal, which is otherwise a 15-minutes journey. There is chaos on the roads, as the government has made no proper arrangement in view of the festival.”

Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President, Javid Ahmad Tenga, said the administration had turned “the Central Business District into a flea market”, causing “crippling losses to genuine business establishments of the area”.

Tenga said the customers travelling towards the Central Business District have to go through a “harrowing experience due to traffic jams”.

“The parking areas and footpath are occupied by street vendors.”

He said if the administration was so interested in setting up the flea market, some vacant plot of land should have had been identified for this purpose.

Tenga appealed the Governor to initiate an enquiry to find out which authority allowed “such a transgression to take place and why alternate sites were not arranged”.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Traffic, Tahir Gillani, refused to comment.