Need of the Hour

06/07/2019

Better late than never, finally the state government has realised that there is a need of metro like transport system in in J&K as the traffic in increasing day by day. The need of the hour is to make roads broader and make new flyovers in state especially in Jammu as the traffic is increasing rapidly. In winters when the secretariat moves to Jammu approximately more vehicles are added to roads of Jammu. Our newspaper has always highlighted the muddle conditions of traffic system in state. Considering the fact that Jammu needs a proper traffic management system and ways to decongest the roads, the Government has finally initaided the work for elevated light rail transit systems. The Government said the work on building elevated light rail transit systems, first of its kind in the country, for Srinagar and Jammu cities would start soon and the project will be completed in four-five years at the cost of Rs 8500 crore. Government has also appointed Dr E Sreedharan, also known as metro-man, as the Principal Advisor to Mass Rapid Transit Corporations (MRTCs) of Srinagar and Jammu. Principal Secretary to the Government, Housing and Urban Development Department, Dheeraj Gupta, said during a press conference on Thursday that it is proposed to have Light Rail System, the first in India, which will have low footprint, low noise, greater comfort, aesthetic appeal and will blend with the surrounding landscape.
Now, the people of state have to wait and watch if this really becomes the reality or it remains on files or as the artificial lake at Tawi project remained on files. In 2012, it was expected that the dream project was nearer to completion and would be all ready by July- August 2013. Since most of the projects run by the state very often jump the deadlines of completion, this project, also could not be an exception. Till now there is no clarity on this dream project.
Total cost of light rail system which they are planning to introduce in two cities (Srinagar and Jammu) is around Rs 8500 crores. The Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) will be completing the detailed project reports (DPRs) in next 15-20 days. Gupta said that in phase one of the elevated light rail transit system in Srinagar, two corridors will be laid from HMT junction to Indra Nagar and Osmanabad to Hazuribagh. He said that in Jammu, in phase one, two corridors from Bantalab to Greater Kailash and Udheywala to Exhibition Ground will be developed. In the second phase, corridors will be built from Greater Kailash to Bari Brahamana Railway Station and Exhibition Ground to Satwari Chowk to Airport. Fingers crossed, hope Governor’s administration start this project in capital cities at the earliest and this becomes reality and people get relief from the menace of traffic.

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