Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, June 3: As the Government and shopkeepers have locked horns over the construction of flyover from Jahangir Chowk-Rambagh, a team of Asian Development Bank (ADB), the funding agency for the project, is expected to visit the site this week to assess the process of rehabilitation of the shopkeepers.
The construction of flyover has missed the fourth deadline this year as the shopkeepers are refusing to shift their business to the newly constructed shopping complex at Jahangir Chowk.
After failing to resolve the dispute over rehabilitation of shopkeepers, the Government is expecting a breakthrough with the visit of ADB team.
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Shailendra Kumar told Excelsior that the visiting team would decide whether work on the proposed project would be started or not.
“A team of Asian Development Bank will reach here this week. They will assess the process of rehabilitation. If they are satisfied they will give nod to the construction agency to start work on the proposed flyover. Otherwise they will stop funding the project,” Kumar said.
Sixty five shopkeepers of Municipal building at Jahangir Chowk and 32 shopkeepers at Magarmal Bagh crossing, including 16 shopkeepers of Estates Building are refusing to shift their shops to the newly constructed shopping complex.
The shopkeepers said that their relocation to the proposed complex would affect their business as the site was not suitable to attract the customers. “We will not shift our shops to the new shopping complex because it looks like a store house,” said Bashir Ahmad Shah, President Magarmal Crossing Shopkeepers Association.
Shah said the shopkeepers have paid huge amount to the Government in 1963 for these shops. “The Government must pay us in cash so that we will find a suitable place for our business,” he added.
Some of the shop-owners also questioned the “needless” demolition of some shopping buildings.
Chairman Hari Singh High Street Municipality Building Shopkeepers Association Haji Mohammad Shafi Zarger said that the proposed flyover was far from the Municipality building, but still the Government wanted to demolish it. “The Government is hell bent to demolish this building at the Jahangir Chowk road which is not needed,” Zargar said.
A senior portfolio management specialist of ADB, Atsushi Kaneko, in a reply to the letter sent by shopkeepers has said that that ADB was sending their experts to Srinagar again who would take on spot assessment of the site.
Top officials of Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) said that they could not start any work on Rs 352-crore project as the matter was sub judice. “We are waiting for court orders, once court will give its final decision, we will start its construction,” a top official of ERA said.
Meanwhile, long delay in the construction of the project has huge public resentment as people blame the Government for deliberately delaying the construction works due to their ill-conceived plans. People also criticize the ERA for their poor track record of not completing any project on time.
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