Roads damaged by snow in B’pora not yet repaired


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Tenders have been issued and work will start soon: CE R&B
Mir TariqBandipora, May 18: Roads damaged by snowfall, landslides and heavy rains in winter in this newly created Bandipora district are yet to be repaired and cleared of boulders.
The link roads, which were damaged during the snowfall and heavy rains in winter are in ruins. Besides, the link roads, two main highways, Srinagar–Bandipora and Sopore-Bandipora, are also in shambles.During past three months, more than eight people have been killed in road accidents in Bandipora. The two major highways connecting Bandipora with rest of the valley, managed by department of R&B, are the lifeline of Bandipora residents and goods are transported through these highways to the district. "R&B department is unaware about the dilapidated condition of the roads," said Ifthikhar Ahmed Wani, a local.The residents said that five years back these roads were partially macadamized. “Now these have developed hundreds of potholes and at some places, road remains waterlogged for days together,” they said.An elderly resident, Abdul Samad said, “The potholes are so deep and wide that fully loaded trucks can overturn and fall on passing vehicles. Even the pedestrians refrain from traveling on these dangerous roads”.Imtiyaz Ahmed, an office-goer said, "The road is in dilapidated condition and we are scared of traveling on it especially near Garoora (Churthungu). The boulders still exist on the road and these have not been cleared by the concerned department”.He demanded that the boulders should be removed and the road repaired to allow hassle free movement of vehicles and people. A driver, Manzoor Ahmad, said he has been a witness to many accidents that were caused by the bad condition of the roads. He has been plying passenger vehicle from Bandipora to Srinagar for past 10 years.The residents said that they apprised the authorities time and again about the dilapidated condition of the roads. “We met top district officials and urged them to repair the roads at the earliest. However, it seems that our pleas have fallen on deaf ears,” they said."Due to dilapidated roads, drivers are compelling us to pay more fare from Srinagar-Bandipora instead of normal rate," said Mushtaq Ahmed, a shopkeeper.He added, “Besides main roads, all the link roads leading to village like Bonakoot, Arin, Sumlar, Hajin, Saidunanara, Ashtangoo, Panar, Aragam, Ajas are also in bad shape and hampering free movement of vehicles and people”.The residents said that though the government is charging a toll tax of Rs10-50 from cars to trucks entering the district, but is doing little to repair and renovate the roads. “The government should have utilized the money collected as toll-tax to improve the infrastructure of roads in the district,” said the locals. When contacted, executive engineer R&B Bandipora, Ghulam Qadir Pintoo told Rising Kashmir that tenders have been issued for repairing the roads. “It will take few weeks to complete the departmental processes and afterwards work will be taken up. Besides repairs the damaged roads, the department will rebuild few roads, which we will be notify later," added Pintoo.