democracy and roads of jammu

By jupinderjit singh

Unlike other parts of the country, democracy surely does not exist on the roads of Jammu. It is usual to see a “free-for-all” situation on the roads in Punjab, but in Jammu, it is pure monopoly and autocracy of mini-buses.

Bus drivers can halt their vehicle anywhere. They can turn left or right without giving any indication. More often, they halt buses in the middle of the road and at times, they even stop the vehicle diagonally, blocking the traffic on both sides.

Most common is the violation of the rule of stopping the buses at designated stops. Such stopping points are not in the dictionary of the mini-bus drivers.

The buses stop at rotaries midway again blocking the vehicles. This scene is common at the Vikram Chowk. The buses would stop one after the other forming a row. Again, both sides of the four-lane road are blocked. The jam causes another row of vehicles and commuters just hope for mercy from the drivers.

True, the city traffic police is duly deployed at such places. But what do they do? They have simply put up a rope to stop vehicles when buses form such illegal row blocking the entire road. Where is the stick that is supposed to ensure that the buses stop at the designated place just a few metres away?

But cops don’t seem to bother. This makes one wonder if there are reasons other than sheer negligence to turn a blind eye to such blatant violation of traffic rules.

But, before you could ask a gentleman in blue, he would rudely shoo you away as VIP cavalcade is passing through. At that time, he would ensure that no bus is seen parked wrongly. Once the VIP cavalcade passes through smoothly, the job of the traffic cops is safe. They coolly move to a corner of the road and let people battle it out themselves.

This is the everyday story of traffic in Jammu. Jams occur like complicated knots, which after much jostling and pushing, untangle on their own. It is your sheer luck if it takes minutes or hours.

(published in JK Plus pullout of The Tribune : http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110212/jkplus.htm#2)