Srinagar city particularly the city centre will continue to witness traffic jams for at least two months, owing to the work going on under Smart City Project.
It will at least take over 2 months to get the work done on roads and if insiders are to be believed, the chock-o-block-like situation of traffic will persist beyond May.
Under Smart City Project, work had been started simultaneously on both sides of Lal Chowk (Residency road and MA Road), which has turned messy. “Nobody is against development but planning is important. It was better to get the work completed from one side first and take the other side then, but here authorities dug up roads everywhere not giving breathing space to anyone,” a shopkeeper told news agency Kashmir News Trust adding that those who are at the helm of affairs should know that planning means deciding in advance what is to be done, how it is to be done and when it is to be done.
Netizens have been expressing resentment after the reports that roads will shrink after the completion of facelift work. “The footpath at Residency that was broad and beautiful has been cut into size,” said another shopkeeper adding that the same has happened on MA Road.
A netizen claimed that some plants have been planted on MA Road, that are suitable for indoor environment and he doesn’t think these plants will last. In response, another netizen wrote that it is easy to plant different species of plants but these need care and they all know what happened to flowers and plants hung in pots at Abdullah Bridge and Budshah Bridge.
“Mega makeover for a small city like Srinagar was bound to create a mess but we have to tolerate all this. You will see a sea of change and the view of Srinagar city will certainly be soothing to the eyes after the works get completed,” said an official. [KNT]