By: Sameer Lone
Shopian: Caught between two district administrations, the one-and-a-half kilometre road link that connects border villages of Shopian and Pulwama districts to each other, is craving for attention.
The road serves as a short-cut link to a dozen villages of Shopian district to reach Pulwama and Srinagar.
The alleged step-motherly treatment towards the road by the respective administrations of Shopian and Pulwama has turned it into a death trap.
The locals of villages of Heff-Sheermal (Shopian), Achan (Pulwama), Panjran (Pulwama) and other adjoining villages are aghast at failure of the authorities to repair the road leaving it risky for commuters.
“I think we are all waiting for a mishap to happen before the administration wakes up and repairs the road,” said a local.
Another local, Ghulam Mohammad, said he failed to understand when the authorities are repairing almost all roads across the length and breadth of J&K, what is stopping them to repair this one-and-a-half kilometre stretch.
“See its condition. It is risky to ply on this road. Its edges have been damaged, the cement side guard destroyed by the illegal sand excavators…It is full of risky bumps. The bulldozer machines and heavy loaders have further damaged it,” he said.
The locals blamed the administration of both the districts for failing to stop the illegal excavation of sand and stones from the Rambi Ara Nallah that has further deteriorated the condition of the thoroughfare.
“These bulldozers have cut this road and the bund (built worth crores for safety from the floods) and no one from the administration cares about it. There is no check at all as if no government exists,” the locals said.
According to the locals of Heff, they have apprised the district administration of Shopian several times, but their pleas have fallen flat.
The road, according to the locals, is of vital importance for the villages of Heff, Sheermal, Sugan, Dragad, Heff-Kuri, a cumulative population of 20000, that connects them with Pulwama town and the summer capital Srinagar.
“Sadly, this road has been overlooked. Students, patients, office goers and other common people suffer,” said a student who studies in Pulwama town.
