Secretary, Transport Department M. Raju today chaired a meeting to review the action taken on the directions issued by Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti for reducing the traffic congestion in the state especially in twin capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar.The meeting discussed various short term and long term measures that can be taken for streamlining the urban transport.It was informed in the meeting that the process of colour coding of maxi cabs in Srinagar is underway and is nearing completion. It was further informed that the exercise of route rationalization of mini buses has been completed in Srinagar while as the progress has been achieved in identification of bus stops and bus stands, operationalization of ISBT at Transport Nagar and Khanpur.The Secretary instructed RTO Kashmir to take immediate measures to identify land for establishment of Institute of Drivers Training and Research (IDTR) as well as Inspection and Certification Centre (ICC). He directed to ensure that all new mini buses should be colour-coded.The meeting also discussed progress on various issues pertaining to high security registration plates, overloading of vehicles, revenue realization, conducting meetings of District Road Safety Committees, formulation of district road safety plans and enforcement on roads.
Transport Commissioner Saugat Biswas informed that J&K is among the leading states to have fully implemented the Dealer Assisted Registration and the department has now switched over to online file transfer by the dealers. He further informed that the Motor Vehicles Department has already achieved the revenue target of Rs. 168.51 crore earmarked for the current year. The Secretary directed for strict checking of violations and traffic offences and impressed upon the offices for taking measures to improve transparency and accountability in the department.He instructed that the decisions should be implemented in a time bound manner and regular review shall be held regarding the implementation of Chief Minister’s directions.The meeting was attended by Mohinder Singh Additional Transport Commissioner, Vikas Sharma Joint Transport Commissioner, Ashok Kumar, Additional Secretary, Deep Raj, RTO Jammu, Pardeep Manhas RTO Kathua and other senior officers of the Motor Vehicles Department. Farooq Ahmed RTO Kashmir and ARTOs of Jammu and Kashmir attended the meeting through video conference.