R&B’s ‘blue-eyed’ contractor uses ‘illegally extracted material’ for road widening
Anantnag: Though the High Court has imposed ban on the extraction of sand and boulders, the Roads and Building (R&B) department is allegedly paving a way to the ‘blue-eyed’ contractor to extract the material from Nallah Sandran in Kapran area of Verinag, being used for the road widening.
The continuous extraction of sand and boulders from the Nallah in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district has left the villagers worried, who allege that the ‘blue-eyed’ contractor with the open support of R&B are putting their lives at risk for their vested interests.
The residents while talking to Kashmir Vision said that the R&B department is widening the Verinag-Kapran road while the contractor who is executing the work is extracting the sand and boulders from the Nallah.
“The extracting material is later being used for the road widening project by the blue-eyed contractor,” they alleged.
They also alleged that the R&B department is also not paying heed over the happenings rather they are openly supporting the contractor in this regard. “What else can we expect from the department which is not even paying heed over the HC orders,” they said.
The locals said that the extraction of the material from the Nallah near a government run school is now posing a risk to the building as the structure is getting affected with each passing day.
Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) R&B Dooru, Shahi Jahan Itoo while talking to Kashmir Vision said that they cannot do anything in this regard.
“We are not bothered to see where from the contractor is getting the material and how. We have to look into our jurisdiction only,” he said.
However, Tehsildar Verinag, Showkat Ahmad told this newspaper that they have deputed a team to look into the issue.
“We have also received such complaints following which we have deputed a team who will look into the matter. Strict action will be taken against the involved culprits,” he said.
KV Correspondent
