Srinagar: Commuters in Central Kashmir’s Srinagar and Budgam districts are facing huge inconvenience as public transport goes off roads on many routes during evening hours.
As per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the routes where transport goes off roads during evening hours are Jahangir Chowk, Rambagh, Jawahar Nagar, Dalgate, Hyderpora , Budgam Chowk and other places of district.
Students, women and elderly persons, could be seen waiting and asking for lift from private vehicles. Dozens of commuters told KNO that public transport like sumos, mini buses, buses and auto rickshaws remain unavailable during evening hours in city.
The commuters from various bus stops include Jahangir Chowk said there is hardly any public transport available after 6pm.
“We have to wait for hours for public transport at Jahangir Chowk”. The concerned officials are taking no steps to regulate the public transport in the area,” a commuter said.
They further said that students, who attend evening classes at the tuition centers in Srinagar have to face huge inconvenience in absence of public transport.
The commuters say in the evening hours the drivers ply only on the routes, which lead to their homes leaving passengers at God’s mercy.
Commuters from Budgam said that they find no options after 5pm but either to walk on foot to reach their homes.
Talking to KNO, RTO Budgam Jamshed Ahmed said that some vehicles are still under the snow which has resulted in shortage of vehicles on Chadoora route. “The snowfall has caused a lot of problems as some vehicles are still stuck, nevertheless, we are trying our best to restore the adequate transport,” he said.
Meanwhile Regional Transport Officer Kashmir, Iqram-ullah said that he would look into the issue. “We’ll see and wherever there is any problem, we will fix the same. We will also see why public transport goes off the roads so early,” he said—(KNO)