Srinagar: Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo on Friday reviewed a multi-departmental action plan to ease traffic congestion, improve road safety and strengthen public transport and emergency response systems in Jammu and Srinagar, directing officials to identify accident-prone locations, improve parking management and upgrade traffic enforcement technology.
Chairing a meeting of the Multi-Disciplinary Committee on Traffic Management, Dulloo reviewed the action taken on recommendations of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety (SCCoRS), along with measures relating to traffic regulation, road infrastructure, parking, enforcement and assistance to road accident victims.
He directed the Jammu and Srinagar Municipal Corporations to conduct regular inspections of traffic signage and asked the divisional commissioners to monitor the installation of signs and ensure that deficiencies were addressed within stipulated timelines.
The Traffic Department was asked to analyse data available on the electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) portal to identify accident-prone locations and time-specific traffic risks. Dulloo said deployment of traffic personnel should be aligned with identified hotspots and blackspots to improve enforcement and reduce road accidents.
He also called for a proposal to strengthen the Transport Department’s capacity to conduct safety audits of heavy passenger vehicles, particularly school buses.
On parking management, the chief secretary directed officials to identify additional on-street parking spaces and develop organised parking lots to address congestion caused by unregulated parking. He also called for upgrading the Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) in both cities to incorporate facial recognition capabilities to strengthen enforcement.
Dulloo stressed the need for an effective grievance redressal mechanism under the PM-RAHAT scheme to ensure that road accident victims receive timely treatment at healthcare facilities across Jammu and Kashmir.
During the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary, Public Works Department, Anil Kumar Singh, presented video walkthroughs of proposed elevated corridors in Jammu and Srinagar and briefed the committee on ongoing road-widening works and projects planned to improve connectivity and ease congestion.
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Anshul Garg presented measures undertaken in and around Srinagar, including identification of parking spaces, decongestion initiatives, ITMS-enabled junctions, electric vehicle charging stations, bus stop remodelling and rectification of identified blackspots.
Commissioner Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, Mandeep Kaur, presented details of initiatives to streamline public transport, regulate parking, develop vending zones and strengthen technology-based traffic management.
She informed the meeting that 17 roadside parking sites had been identified in Jammu, of which three were functional and seven had been allotted to vendors.
In Srinagar, an IT-based Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system was monitoring 300 parking spaces across major commercial areas, including M.A. Road, Lal Chowk, Residency Road, Jhelum Riverfront and Karan Nagar.
Srinagar Smart City Limited is also pursuing technology-based parking management, while the Jammu Municipal Corporation has established a Parking Cell and plans to incorporate IT-based parking provisions in future tenders. The Srinagar Municipal Corporation is preparing a geographic information system-based parking management area plan to identify and regulate parking zones.
The meeting also reviewed electric vehicle charging infrastructure. In Jammu, sites have been identified and handed over to the Transport Department under the PM E-Drive scheme, with ₹15 crore allocated and civil works for an electric bus depot underway.
In Srinagar, the Pantha Chowk charging station, with capacity for 100 buses, has been developed, while the Zoonimar station is operational for 15 vehicles. Charging stations at Batamaloo, Harwan and Bemina are under execution against an allocation of ₹13.99 crore.
Four vending-zone sites are operational in Jammu at Roop Nagar, Talab Tillo, Shakti Nagar and Narwal behind Wave Mall. In Srinagar, vending spaces at Magarmal Bagh, Batamaloo and Nishat are functional, while additional vending zones are being developed in other districts.
To improve traffic discipline, no-honking zones have been mapped at 29 major institutional locations in Jammu and 12 locations in Srinagar.
The committee was also informed about ITMS enforcement performance between January and July 2026. In Jammu, the system generated 1,75,384 electronic challans involving penalties of ₹20.20 crore. Of these, 11,467 were disposed of and ₹1.04 crore recovered.
In Srinagar, 1,04,311 e-challans involving ₹10.50 crore were generated during the same period, of which 3,210 were disposed of and ₹19 lakh realised.
The Transport Department also reported the cancellation of 68,000 vehicle registration certificates for repeated violations. The meeting reviewed the utilisation of the Road Accident Victim Fund and implementation of PM-RAHAT for accident victims requiring medical treatment.
Against ₹18.14 crore allocated under road safety funds since 2021, ₹13.83 crore has been spent on traffic-monitoring and enforcement equipment. The equipment procured includes 560 iron traffic barricades, 685 body-worn cameras, 1,000 traffic safety night belts, 19 interceptor vehicles, 16 high-patrol vehicles, 23 cranes, 36 breath-alcohol analysers and 100 first-responder kits, besides ambulances.
A contract and supply order have also been issued through the Government e-Marketplace for 30 containerised traffic booths at a cost of ₹103.50 lakh, with prototype preparation underway.
The Public Works Department informed the committee that metal beam crash barriers had been completed along a 13-km stretch of National Highway-44 in Jammu on May 7, 2025, and along a 31-km stretch in Kashmir to improve road safety and lane management.
The meeting also reviewed measures to strengthen District Level Road Safety Committees, operationalise the Road Accident Victim Fund, integrate ITMS with e-DAR, e-Courts and the Integrated Road Accident Database (i-RAD), audit blackspots and dark hotspots, conduct school-bus safety inspections and assess trauma-care facilities.
The chief secretary stressed that organised parking, effective enforcement, safer road infrastructure and timely emergency medical assistance should remain central to efforts to make travel safer and reduce congestion in the two cities.
The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Home, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development, Transport and Tourism departments, divisional administrations, traffic police, municipal corporations, development authorities and other concerned agencies.
