Residents, who need to vote, have three options: Odd-even scheme, ‘two cars per house’ norm, and three passengers per car rule.
New Delhi: Perturbed by the perennial traffic problem, Jammu and Kashmir’s transport department has sought suggestions from people on how to decongest Srinagar and Jammu cities.
The department is conducting a poll on its official Twitter handle, @TransCommJK, asking people “what they think would be apt for Srinagar and Jammu cities for traffic decongestion?”
There are three options: One is the much talked about ‘odd-even’ scheme tried by Arvind Kejriwal’s Delhi government, second is “maximum two cars per house” and third is the “three passengers per car” idea.
Also read: Delhi’s odd-even scheme was a 50-50 bet that ended as a 100% failure
While 48 per cent of respondents were in favour of the “two cars per house” norm, 34 per cent voted for the odd-even scheme and 18 per cent preferred the “three passengers per car” option until seven hours prior to the conclusion of the poll.
Traffic jams have been the order of the day in both Jammu and Srinagar for several years now.
State transport commissioner Saugat Biswas said his department is exploring different options offered by people to solve the traffic problem.
“The traffic issue we see here are not as grave as you see in the big cities. This poll gives us an idea about the receptibility of the schemes,” Biswas told ThePrint.
“All other departments are working to find ways. We will have more such polls and then see possible alternatives,” he said, adding that various departments are looking at options such as better road designing and traffic architecture.
The state has 16 lakh registered vehicles including the commercial and private ones.
According to the Health of Nation’s States, a report by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), road accidents are a major cause of death in 41 per cent of people in India in the age-group of 15 to 39 years.
J&K inspector general of police (traffic) Basant Rath, who courted controversy after a video showing him slapping a youth had gone viral in July, said while the traffic in Jammu was still “manageable”, there is a manpower shortage in Srinagar.
Also read: ‘They give me free publicity’: J&K traffic chief Basant Rath undeterred by controversies
“In Srinagar, there are three reasons for traffic mess — faulty road engineering, lack of enough traffic policemen and lack of investment in traffic management,” Rath told ThePrint.
He said there was no scarcity of land in Srinagar but what was lacking in traffic management was “proper handling” of it.
Srinagar faces more traffic congestion during the bi-annual “Darbar Move” — shifting of the civil secretariat to Srinagar during summer and to Jammu in winter.
Rath says only 550 traffic police personnel have to handle the entire traffic rush in Srinagar, created during the ‘Darbar Move’.
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