Subscribe
As Srinagar struggles under the weight of traffic jams and failing transport services, a fleet of newly launched electric Smart City buses has sparked a glimmer of hope. But with just 100 on the road and growing demand, the question remains: can this modest intervention fix a system decades in decline?
Saba (name changed for anonymity), a young government employee, works at an associated hospital of the Government Medical College, Srinagar. Appointed in 2019, she described her daily commute from Borwah, a village on the outskirts of Srinagar in Chadoora tehsil, Budgam district, as a nightmare that lasted nearly four years. Though her workplace was only 21 kilometres away, the journey took at least two and a half hours each way.
“Every day I left home at 7.30 am and reached work by 10 am,” she told this reporter. “Sometimes my brother dropped me on his motorbike to Zuhama, two kilometres away. If not, I walked. From there, I took a shared cab to Chadoora and then another to my office.”
Winters made things worse, with short days, snowfall and sub-zero temperatures. “At times, I considered quitting. But since it was a government job with promotion prospects, I held on. Eventually, I bought a car for Rs 4 lakh with a loan from Jammu & Kashmir Bank. Now I spend Rs 10,000 on the EMI and another Rs 6,000 on fuel — almost what I used to spend on cabs — but reach work in an hour instead of two and a half. There was no choice. The public transport system in Kashmir has collapsed,” she said.
Shabir Ahmad, who worked with a national-level non government organisation in Srinagar, faced similar challenges. Based in Showpora village in Budgam, he commuted 23 kilometres to his office, often spending 2.5 hours each way using shared taxis — mostly Tata Sumos and Taveras, which constitute the only form of public transport in many parts of Kashmir.
“The system has failed,” he said. “There is a direct bus from Loolipora to Srinagar via Hyderpora where our office is located, but only two buses run — one early morning and another in the evening. They charge only Rs 60 for a round trip. In contrast, shared cabs cost me Rs 140 daily.” Ahmad wishes to buy a car to escape the issues, but is unable to afford it.
His route includes three separate legs: Rs 30 from Showpora to Chadoora, another Rs 30 to Chanapora bypass and Rs 10 more to Hyderpora. Between 11am and 3pm, cabs on rural routes are scarce, making mid-day travel to villages like Loolipora or Showpora difficult.
Travelling to northern districts like Kupwara was even more expensive. “I once spent Rs 500 for a round trip to Kupwara from Srinagar. A bus would have cost me Rs 250. I don’t understand why the government can’t provide better, affordable public transport. It would ease congestion and reduce pollution,” Ahmad told this reporter.
Sajad Mir, a grocery store salesman in Dalgate, takes a different approach to commuting. He lives in Nishat, about 10 kilometres away and has cycled to work for the last two years. “I used to spend Rs 100-120 daily on cabs. In 2023, I bought a second-hand cycle for Rs 4,000. On a Rs 14,000 monthly salary, that saving of Rs 3,000 per month mattered a lot,” he said.
While the collapse of the J&K State Road Transport Corporation (JKSRTC) — which has run at a loss for over three decades — left Srinagar with little structured public transport, the introduction of Smart City electric buses has brought renewed optimism.
These e-buses, operated by the Srinagar Smart City Ltd, were launched in November 2023 and now ply 16 routes across the city. They have quickly gained traction, with an average daily ridership of around 30,000. Between January and November 2024, over 6.1 million passengers used these buses, with September recording the highest monthly usage at 720,000, followed by August at 682,000.
In contrast, JKSRTC maintains a separate, much smaller fleet of e-buses — only 20 operating in Kashmir, out of which just 10–12 run in Srinagar.
In December 2022, Dr Parvaiz Koul, former director of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), stated that 10,000 deaths annually in J&K were linked to air pollution. Koul was speaking at the launch of the Srinagar chapter of Doctors for Clean Air and Climate Action, a network of healthcare professionals.
Koul also claimed that Srinagar has the highest incidence of lung cancer in India, citing his 2010 research.
Urban expert and former SMC commissioner GN Qasba attributed high pollution levels to rising vehicle numbers, open burning of waste and the burning of dry leaves in autumn. “A surge in vehicle registrations, coupled with limited public transportation infrastructure, contributes to elevated levels of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. Open burning of waste plus burning of dry leaves in autumn season also causes massive air pollution in Srinagar between October and December every year.”
Vehicle ownership in Jammu & Kashmir has skyrocketed over the last six years. According to the 2022 Economic Survey, vehicle registrations jumped from 1.36 million in 2016 to 2.38 million by the end of 2022 and reached 2.72 million by December 2024. Yet road infrastructure remained largely unchanged.
“Even low-income groups are forced to buy vehicles now due to public transport failure,” said Farooq Kuthoo, executive member of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). “In the past five years, Srinagar has seen a rise in commercial vehicles, especially luxury cars used for tourism — a trend that dipped after the Pahalgam attack.”
Between 2019-20 and 2024, 30,204 light motor vehicles and 43,202 two-wheelers were registered. The Jammu & Kashmir Bank reportedly financed 22,000 non-commercial vehicles in 2023 alone, issuing car loans worth Rs 1,600 crore.
Urban transport expert Anuj Malhotra, who advised the J&K government for eight years, said that people were willing to switch to public transport — provided services were reliable. “We need at least 500 e-buses in Srinagar; there are only 100. Roads and footpaths also need upgrades. If buses came every five minutes, people would leave their cars.”
As of 2024, the JKSRTC operated only 448 buses — down from 580 in 2014. Just 40 of these were e-buses: 20 in Jammu and 20 in Kashmir. Of the 20 in Kashmir, only 10–12 served Srinagar. “In 2008, the S.L. Bhat Committee recommended procuring 1,000 buses — but the report was never implemented,” said Fayaz Ahmad, a JKSRTC employee.
This article is part of our series on how India moves, which looks at the relationship between air quality and human mobility in cities and towns.
