Eid shopping turns sour with traffic chaos in Srinagar

Srinagar, Mar 18: Traffic chaos turned Srinagar’s Eid shopping into sour experience for thousands while severely disrupting daily commutes for work, education, and essential services.

The incessant rainfall worsened the movement of vehicles on most Srinagar roads, the journey of minutes turning into hours of grueling drive.

Ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, expected to fall on March 20 or 21, the much-anticipated festive shopping has become nightmarish as the countdown to the festival begins.

The markets across the city, particularly Lal Chowk and the old-city interiors buzz with shoppers for Eid essentials like garments, footwear, and savories and bakery items.

Amid the surge in footfall over the past few days, and with shopping curve peaking, the commute and traffic woes have also escalated equally.

The rush has triggered widespread gridlocks on key routes.

On Wednesday, the vehicles crawled at a snail’s pace not just during morning and evening peaks, but throughout the day.

Many commuters reported hours of delays in areas like Hyderpora, Natipora, city’s central areas like M A Road, Qamarwari, Shalteng, Habba Kadal, Nowhatta Chowk, Khanyar, Malabagh, Soura, Lal Bazar, Hawal, Nishat, and Nawa Kadal.

In areas like Abdullah Bridge, traffic inched at snail’s pace while the vehicle rush kept the roads clogged even at sunset.

In stretches like Hazratbal, Saida Kadal, and Maharaj Bazar, roadside vendors with stalls had further narrowed lanes, compounding the crisis.

The ongoing spell of rain in Srinagar has created even more havoc, turning many roads and lanes into waterlogged stretches.

The downpour worsened congestion dramatically due to skidding concerns and reduced visibility.

There were additional bottlenecks in Batamaloo, Residency Road, and several inner-city lanes.

Many people said the combination of rain-induced water-logging and the Eid rush became a deterrent for stepping out.

For school children, the travel time doubled on Wednesday.

The movement of traffic became almost impossible during peak hours.

A parent, while speaking to Greater Kashmir, said their children took two hours from Athwajan to Rajbagh. “The children were exhausted in the gruesome chaos that the Srinagar roads have become this Eid,” she said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Traffic City Srinagar, Ajaz Bhat earlier this week said that the department was working on addressing the choke points and additional measures would be put in place around Eid-ul-Fitr to reduce traffic woes for Srinagar residents.

Earlier, he said roads are not business premises, speaking in strong language against vendors and illegally parked vehicles on roads.

However, of the many innovative measures and plans announced for smoothening the passage of traffic on roads, none seems to work around festivals.