Suhail Khan
Srinagar, June 11: After facing severe criticism for not repairing dilapidated roads, authorities at Roads and Buildings (R&B) department Thursday claimed that one thousand kilometers road length will be macadamized this summer in Kashmir.
Much to the dismay and discomfort of commuters as well as residents, the majority of the roads in Kashmir including important road links in Srinagar city are in shambles.
Chief engineer R&B, Kashmir Sami Aarif said that work to macadamize roads has already begun.
“We have target to macadamize one thousand KM road length across Kashmir this summer,” Aarif told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS)
He said major roads are on priority list for macadamization. “Roads leading to hospitals, colleges and other vital public institutions are on priority list,” he said.
He added that the macadamization work has already started around ten days ago. “We have macadamized Boulevard and Nishat road. All major vital roads will be covered on a first priority basis,” he said.
He said that there would be a “great change” on ground in next ten to fifteen days as the process to repair dilapidated roads have been expedited.
Presently, vital roads in Kashmir are dilapidated causing a lot of hardships and delays in reaching the desired destination, said commuters.
While the roads in rural areas are in mess, the situation in Srinagar is even worse. The roads in the capital city are in shabby condition, and travelling is proving to be back breaking experience in the city. Further, road links to tourist destinations are too in dilapidated state giving a bad name to Kashmir.
The R&B Chief Engineer said that sufficient funds are available for the execution of the plan and one thousand kilometers will be covered by the end of current summer.
Macadamization of roads in Kashmir is being carried mostly from May to September — when temperature is high and favorable for the process. No such activity can be carried in winters.
R&B department have so far remained under severe criticism by commuters and residents for failing repair dilapidated roads across Kashmir.(KINS)
