In view of the ensuing Eid-ul-Azha, a large number of vehicles are expected to throng the city hub at Lal Chowk. The traffic police has made elaborate arrangements to discourage traffic gridlocks along Residency Road and M.A Road stretches, which otherwise cause inconvenience to the commoners as the whole area gets converted into a shopper’s paradise leaving least space for vehicles to move.SSP Traffic Police, Srinagar, Abdul Waheed Shah during a press conference said that a new strategy has been devised for the convenience of general masses. The route plan envisages that during the festivities, no vehicular traffic shall be allowed to ply on Residency Road from Radio Kashmir to Hari Singh High Street from 21st September till Eid-ul-Azha. As per the new route plan, all Lal Chowk bound commercial vehicles approaching from Soura, Hazratbal and Harwan shall adopt the following routes after converging at Badyari Chowk.M.A Bridge- M.A road-Budshah Bridge; At Budshah bridge all vehicles shall take U-turn immediately below the Flyover and shall proceed back along Budshah bridge- Maisuma- Madina Chowk-Exchange Road- Barbarshah-Baba Dharam Dass temple.
At Baba Dharam Dass temple, vehicles bound for Soura and on onwards shall take a left turn towards Babademb and onwards. At Baba Dharam Dass temple the vehicles bound for Hazratbal shall adopt Khonakhan- Khanyar route for onward journey. At Baba Dharam Dass temple the vehicles bound for Nishat, Harwan shall follow Khonakhan- Badyari Chowk route for onward journey. All Lal Chowk bound commercial vehicles approaching from Pampore, Pantha Chowk, Batawara shall adopt the following route after reaching at Sonwar.Sonwar-Radio Kashmir-TRC-Golf Crossing-M.A road-Budshah bridge and shall take Fly-over route to reach Batamaloo and on return shall adopt Fire-Service-Flyover- Budshah bridge- Maisuma-Madina Chowk-Exchange Road-Barbarshah- Baba Dharam Dass temple-SRTC Crossing-Dalgate-Syed Sahib Sonwar and shall proceed onwards.
All Batmalloo bound vehicles coming from Budgam, Rangreth, Humhama, Chadoora, Kralpora, Natipora, Sanatnagar, Rawalpora etc. shall after reaching Sherghari shall adopt Exhibition-Secretariat road to reach Batmalloo and on return they shall follow Reckchowk, P/S Sharegari-Iqbal Park-Bakshi Stadium, L.D Hospital, Lal Mandi, Jawahar Nagar, Jawahar Nagar Bund-Rambagh bridge and onwards.All JVC/HMT bound vehicles shall take Tatoo Ground- Batmaloo route and on return shall take U-turn at Secretariat crossing for onward journey.As per the strategy, the parking arrangements for all private vehicles approaching Lal Chowk and around the city center have been made. Residency road right from Radio Kashmir upto Hari Singh High Street shall be declared one-way for LMVs with entry at HSHS and exit point at Fancy Fabrics, Regal Chowk, Polo View lane and no vehicle shall be allowed to enter the Residency road from Radio Kashmir side.
The areas like Sheikh Bagh, Press Enclave, Polo Ground (East/west), Polo View parking, Khalsa High School, Along Market near V-mart, Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium could be utilized by the people as parking places. All Shopkeepers/business establishments of Lal Chowk area shall park their vehicles before 0900 hours at authorized and designated parking places.No vehicle shall be allowed to park along M.A Road on either tube, Jehangir Chowk, Exhibition, HSHS and violators shall be dealt sternly. All commercial vehicle operators shall ensure that they shall not resort to intermittent stop, gaps and shall board or un-board passengers at designated bus stops/bus bays only.