The number of vehicles clogging roads is huge. The traffic volume is only increasing with each passing day. The problem of traffic jams simply refuses to go away despite some efforts to address it. The situation on the traffic front continues to be nightmarish at places at most times. Most of the time, the roads witness serpentine queues of stranded vehicles and people are left wandering in their vehicles which is agonizing. Underling that the government was alive to the problem, the Chief Secretary earlier this year chaired a high-level meeting to review traffic scenarios in Jammu and Kashmir.
As per also official statement, the top most civil officer of the J&K expressed serious concern over the “alarming figures of fatal road accidents” on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway and other major roads in J&K. In a right direction he has directed National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to prioritize installation of crash barriers and parapets throughout the accident prone areas and black spots. Besides, NHAI has also been asked to install mesh coverings at landslide-prone areas to ensure safety of plying vehicles. Besides, the traffic police was asked to ensure adequate deputation of traffic personnel on the congested stretches to enforce speed limits and discipline in lane driving. Measures to reduce traffic speed are considered essential to reducing casualties on the road. Globally speed cameras are increasingly helping to reduce traffic speeds and as a consequence casualties. There is a need for an expansion in the use of cameras. Also health professionals need to be engaged in an informed debate about the effectiveness of cameras and also propagate awareness.
There is also a need to check over-speeding by the drivers and ensure strict compliance to the fixed speed limits. The chief secretary has also rightly directed the concerned to conduct checking of vehicles in a regulated manner without causing disruption to the smooth traffic movement on highway. Police checking and nakas in haphazard manner prove bad in overall traffic scenario. The enforcement agencies have been asked to submit the factual reports of each checking drive with the higher authorities for ensuring suitable penal action against the delinquents. This is a right step and efforts must be taken to ensure transparency in this account. The chief secretary has rightly ordered the wearing of body cameras by the concerned officials, besides ensuring installation of traffic cameras on all traffic interceptors.