Minister for Transport and CA&PD, Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan today outlined a slew of measures taken by the government to de-congest traffic in Jammu city. He said the city witnesses huge traffic pressure as 30 to 40 thousand vehicles are registered in the district annually.Replying to a Calling Attention Notice moved by Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta, the Minister informed that House that an Inter-State Bus Terminal has been set up at Transport Nagar and Bus Stand at Khanpur has been operationalized. He said fourth bridge over River Tawi has taken the load off old Tawi bridge and has helped in de-congesting the areas of Jewel Chowk, Gumat, Canal Road etc. as it is now directly linking Ware House and Talab Tiloo areas, adding that the upcoming flyover at Bikram Chowk will also reduce the traffic congestions to a great extent.
Mr. Ramzan said that delineators, traffic cones and road piders have been installed on various roads of Srinagar and Jammu city to enforce lane driving and discipline among the drivers. He said rotaries have been constructed at various locations to streamline the flow of traffic at major junctions in Jammu. Moreover, he said traffic signals have been installed at crucial junctions.The Minister said in order to establish interface with various stakeholders, the Traffic Police Department has launched website (www.jktrafficpolice.nic.in) as well as page on the Facebook to reach out to the people. He said Mobile Traffic Squads have been deployed on the vulnerable routes to check jamming of traffic and prevent traffic violations.
The Minister said that the final report of comprehensive mobility plan for Jammu city has been received by the Government in 2014 and is under examination. The plan envisages a number of measures which aim at reducing the congestion on the roads in the core city.
The Minister said that during 2013, 191796 vehicles have been challaned in Traffic City Jammu and a fine (Compound money) of Rs. 2.97 crore has been realized from them. In addition, towing charges of Rs. 32 lakhs (for wrong parking) and court fine of Rs. 47 lakhs has been realized by the Courts on Traffic challans.He informed the House that during the current year (upto June 2014), 1,05,010 violators have been challaned in Traffic City Jammu thereby realizing a fine (Compound money) of Rs. 1.57 crores. Besides, towing charge of Rs. 10 lakhs- (for wrong parking) and court fine of Rs. 33 lakhs has been realized by the courts on the traffic challans during the same period. He said during 2013, 9814 violators have been challaned for Traffic violations in the city. (KNS)