Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Feb 10: Government has shelved six-lanning of 10-kilometres road stretch between Pampore and Sonawar on the National Highway even as a detailed project report was prepared four years ago.
In 2016, the then Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Syed Basharat Bukhari, had announced in the Assembly that Government has taken up the six-lanning of the road from Sonawar to Gallander. He had said that the project would ease the pressure on the stretch and reduce traffic jams particularly at Pantha Chowk, Pampore and Sonawar.
The DPR for the project had been prepared at an estimated cost of Rs.342.60 crore and the tendering process was also initiated. Subsequently, the authorities carried earth cutting at some places of the road but left it midway.
The widening of the road would have greatly reduced the time and cost of travel, particularly of heavy traffic plying in the area. The existing four-lane road passes through congested and thickly populated areas like Pantha Chowk, Sonawar, and Pampore where commuters face traffic jams every day.
One of the reasons behind the stalling of the project is the new alignment of highway from Gallander to Pantha Chowk. “I think the opening of the stretch has reduced traffic to a great extent and Government did not find it necessary to go with the up-gradation of the old route. This road is not a priority for the Government now,” an official privy to the details said.
The Government’s decision, however, is taking a toll on the vehicular movement on the road stretch everyday. “It takes me almost 20 minutes to travel from Batwara- Sonawar as the area witnesses a traffic jam every day. On one hand the administration is making tall claims regarding streaming of traffic, while on the other they turn blind to problems like this,” Adil Ahmad, a driver said.
The worst traffic jams are witnessed near G B Pant hospital, which is Kashmir’s lone pediatric hospital that receives a huge rush of patients every day. The slow pace of traffic also affects the healthcare facilities as patients fail to reach the hospital on time as Valley’s lone Children’s hospital is located in the area. “Even the ambulances have to go through grinding traffic halts thereby wasting precious time. In critical cases a fraction of second matters,” Bashir Ahmad, a local said.
Executive Engineer Roads and Buildings department, Sami Arif, said that there is no such proposal right now. “We are planning an upgradation of the existing road. In fact, we have upgraded some portion of the road last year and remaining part would be taken up this year,’ he said.
Asked about the grinding traffic halts at Sonawar, he said: “We have taken up that issue with the BEACON and will address the problem as soon as possible.”
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