Five years on, vital Bijbehara-Shopian road awaits completion
Shopian: Five years after the vital Bijbehara-Shopian road was approved under Central Road Fund (CRF), the work on the road has been put on halt due to shortage of funds.
In February 2016, the Union ministry of Road Transport and Highways sanctioned an amount of Rs 48.93 crore for the upgradation and widening of the road, which connects Shopian with Bijbehara.
Notably, the road is connecting the historical Mughal road with Srinagar-Jammu highway near Bijbehara town. The road is also vital to hundreds of villages that connects them to different parts of south Kashmir.
Locals from different parts of the Shopian said that dilapidated condition of the road from Chitragam to Shopian is giving tough time to the commuters.
They said that it takes them hours from Shopian to reach Imamsahib, Nagbal or Chitragam or vice-versa due to the potholed and bumpy condition of the road.
They said part of the road was dug by bulldozers to shift water pipeline as well as electric poles, however, the road was never repaired.
“We were promised a two lane road but even the one lane road has not been maintained and travelling on this road proves not less than a nightmare for both drivers as well as passengers,” said Junaid Ahmad, a resident of Imamsahib Shopian.
He said that an ongoing tussle between two departments, PHE and PDD led to delay in works for sometime but now the matter was settled but due to shortage of funds now, the work has been put on halt.
Locals requested chief engineer R&B and DDC Shopian to personally look into the matter and complete the road at an earliest so that locals can heave a sigh of relief.
Executive Engineer R&B division Shopian Er Mohammed Ayoub Wani said that there is liability of over 9.5 crore which department owes to contractors for which work has been already done.
He said that department hasn’t received a single penny for the last year as well and once department will receive funds, work will be started on the road.
Jahangeer Ganaie
