Narrow roads, private vehicles causing traffic snarls in Kashmir

In the last five decades, almost 7 lakh private cars and two-wheelers were registered in the Valley, with 3,11,608 cars and 3,85,672 two-wheelers. The road infrastructure and length has not seen the proportionate increase in the Valley which is causing traffic jams thus wasting the time of the people during travelling.

Srinagar: The Kashmir valley has witnessed a manifold increase in new vehicle registrations in the last two decades but the road infrastructure has not increased proportionately which is causing traffic jams across major towns and the Srinagar city.

According to official figures, Kashmir has seen a more than 400 per cent increase in new vehicle registrations in the last 17 years, a five-fold jump since 2004. As per the data of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) Kashmir, 1,54,277 vehicles were registered between 1971 and 2004.

The spike in vehicle registrations began from 2004 onwards. According to RTO Kashmir data, 7,22,199 vehicles were registered between 2004 and August 2021.

In the last five decades, almost 7 lakh private cars and two-wheelers were registered in the Valley, with 3,11,608 cars and 3,85,672 two-wheelers. The road infrastructure and length has not seen the proportionate increase in the Valley which is causing traffic jams thus wasting the time of the people during travelling.

Citizens said that the lack of proper and smooth public transport in the Valley has compelled people to buy private cars and two-wheelers.

"When the public transport is not smooth and organized, people are compelled to buy their own vehicles. The increased purchase of vehicles has resulted in an exponential rise in traffic jams and congestion," Javaid Ahmad, a citizen told ETV Bharat.

Arshid Ahmad, a young citizen said that though the vehicles have increased manifold in the Valley but the government has not built the roads infrastructure.

"Narrow roads which were built in Kashmir decades ago have not been rebuilt or widened. The city and towns don't have sufficient parking slots which compel people to park their cars on roads. Both these factors result in massive traffic jams in the Valley," he told ETV Bharat.

According to officials, the private car purchase in Kashmir is seeing a yearly jump despite the turmoil and Covid-19 lockdowns.