Srinagar, March 19: As people are facing huge inconvenience due to the huge potholes in the crucial road links in Srinagar, the face of Kashmir, the Roads and Buildings department is grappling with multiple challenges including inclement weather and shortage of macadam besides specific fund allocation for repairing the city roads that are in shambles.
The dilapidated roads have added to the woes of people as they don’t only lead to traffic jams but also result the damages to the vehicles besides posing a threat of accidents. Witnesses said that it was an irony that despite the fact that winter has almost ended and yet the government was not repairing the roads. “The road stretch from Qamarwari to Bemina to Lal Chowk is in shambles. There are big potholes and if the commuters would take precautions, there is a massive threat of rising accidents. Many travelers have already complained of damage to their vehicles,” a group of travelers on this road stretch told Kashmi Indepth.
Similarly, people of Batamaloo also complained of the same problem. “Due to the intense snow fall t his winter, the road stretch going from main Batmaloo road though the bus stand towards Mominabad is in shambles,” said Muhammad Shabaan, resident of Batamaloo.
He said that despite certain reminders to the concerned authorities are paying deaf ear to the requests made by the locals about repairing the road.
Talking about the Lal Chowk, the commercial hub of Kashmir, many shopkeepers stated that there are many potholes which haven’t been repaired. “If macadamisation wasn’t possible, the concerned authorities even didn’t do the main patchwork,” said a shopkeeper, Ghulam Muhammad Mir. He said recently a load carrier turned turtle after one of his tyres got stuck the pothole. “The driver of the vehicle had a narrow escape,” he said.
Similarly, areas like Rajbagh, Chanapora, Rambagh Barzulla have also bad roads. Many residents of Pantha chowk area of Srinagar also complained that the authorities were callous about filling the potholes let alone mecadamising the same. “The road stretch from Sempora to Zaffran Colony has turned into a stream due to sinking of a major portion of road. We have been requesting the concerned, but no step is being taken,” said a group of residents of Sempora, Panthachowk.
Talking to Kashmir Indepth, Chief Engineer R&B Sami Arif said that the action has been started and the repair work of roads has been started. “Though there is no specific fund allocation for the roads but action has been started and things will be visible on ground after a few weeks,” he said. “At least Rs 20 to Rs 30 lakh rupees will be spent on the repair of roads in the coming weeks. We were facing problem as vehicles were not able to ferry the macadam from the plants due to the inclement weather but now that the weather has improved, apart from the patchwork, filling of potholes, we will also undertake the mecadamisation process.”
