Locals, tourists suffer as vital Aishmuqam-Pahalgam road in shambles
Blacktopping this year, say officials
Anantnag: The vital Aishmuqam-Pahalgam road in south Kashmir, which has not been macadamised by the authorities since 2007, is giving tough time to commuters.
The dilapidated road is causing inconvenience to the residents as well as the tourists who visit the famous tourist spot, Pahalgam in the district.
“It takes more than an hour to reach Aishmuqam from Pahalgam- a travel which earlier used to take just 40 minutes. We often get late to college because of this,” said Shahid Ahmad, a student enrolled at Government Degree College, Anantnag.
Shhaid added that “Only a few kilometers from KP road to Seer Hamdan was macdamised in 2015, but the stretch from Aishmuqam-Pahalgam was left out due to unknown reasons”.
Locals alleged that the road had seen “only patchwork ahead of the yearly Amarnath Yatra but for the rest of the year, they don’t care about the sufferings of the local people”.
They said the dilapidated road had become “a nightmare to travel” on even as authorities did not pay any heed.
When contacted, Executive Engineer Roads and Building (R&B) Anantnag, Mohammad Ayoub said that the road was being widened and will be blacktopped “very soon”.
He said that the road could not be black topped last year “due to shortage of funds”.
“It will be blacktopped later this year,” he added.
Jahangeer Ganaie
