Sohail Bhat
Srinagar, Aug 19: The upgrading of the crucial Bijbehara to Kanihama road via Katriteng and Waghama in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district has been put on hold for the past two years despite the availability of funds, with officials attributing the delay to land acquisition.
The World Bank-funded project’s construction began in 2020 with an estimated cost of roughly Rs. 14.70 crores, but after some preliminary work, the project was abandoned. The road would not only connect many villages to the NH-44 but also provide an alternate route to Pahalgam tourist destination. An official said that the Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) started the work on the widening and upgrading of 8.39 kilometers of the road in August 2020. “The project’s component, a bridge between Bijbehara town and Katriteng village, was partially completed in the beginning, but nothing else has been done. The construction firm appears to have given up on the undertaking,” he said, adding that the project has adequate cash.
Locals claim that many vehicles travel to Pahalgam from various points in the Kashmir valley and that this route may have given rise to new commercial opportunities for them. Additionally, locals said, the traffic rerouting might have helped the people by relieving congestion in Bijbehara’s main market. “Even though the market and hospital are only a five-minute drive from where we live, just over the Jhelum, we have to take a detour. It would have given us better opportunities and saved us a lot of time,” Bashir Ahmad, a local, said.
Javid Iqbal Bukhari, Director of ERA Kashmir, told Excelsior that the project’s land acquisition was the reason for the delay. “Some of the paperwork is pending, but all the problems on the ground have been cleared and work will shortly resume,” he said, adding that additional paperwork is needed because the project is World Bank funded.
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