Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Dec 6: The renovation and widening of Shopian-Bijbehara road being built in South Kashmir’s Shopian district has been suspended due to a shortage of funds.
Roads and Building Department that is executing the project maintained that the work on the centrally funded project was halted because of the delay in the release of funds. “The road is being funded under CRF and delay in its completion is because of lack of funds. But the Government has prioritized the project and funds would be released soon. The work on pending portion would resume accordingly,” Chief Engineer, Roads and Building Department, Showkat Jeelani, told Daily Excelsior.
He said of the total 25 kilometers, 15 kilometers have been completed and the remaining 10-kilometers would be taken up promptly.
In the year 2016-17, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways sanctioned an amount of Rs 48.93 crore for the road. Apart from connecting historical Mughal road with Srinagar-Jammu highway at Bijbehara town, the road is also the vital link to around two dozen villages that connects them to South Kashmir’s district Anantnag. It also connects the villages with the Railway Station at Bijbehara.
The road was supposed to be completed in two years but missed several deadlines with officials claiming that shifting of utilities including electric poles and water pipes by concerned departments delayed the project. “It was a big hindrance in the widening process as the departments had to arrange funds for shifting and that took a lot of time,” an official said, adding the shifting of the utilities has been completed but now the funds are not being released in due time.
The commuters lamented that the road has been dug at several places, giving tough time to the commuters. “The contractor has dug deep ditches at several places. The construction material like sand and gravel are also lying on the road at several places thereby hampering the vehicular movement,” Asif Ahmad, a local from Chitragam area said, adding the damaged water pipes have made the roads slippery leading to problems in commuting.
Being the shortest route to reach Anantnag and the National Highway, the locals said that the road would reduce their travel cost and time. “The road will help us in a big way. Right now we have to travel to Shopian and then to Pulwama and from there to National Highway or any other part of the Valley. But the road will shorten our travel and help us reach our destination in less time,” Basit Ahmad, a local said.
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