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| Jammu-Doda National Highway on verge of extinction, J&K govt goes missing | | 'We are not Kashmir' | |  Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, Apr 21: With state government continuing its abysmal attitude and locals more bothered about settling communal scores, Jammu-Doda-Kishtwar national highway reached point of complete extinction.
National Highway-1B becomes invisible due to both land slipping and landslides on the entire 54 kilometre stretch from Batote to Doda and also Batote to Kishtwar even if rains for a few hours. The highway becomes a death trap and if care is not taken, one can get buried deep under the debris without any chance of getting noticed till the time machines are not pressed into service.
A heavy truck got buried under the debris near Korra Pani on the Doda-Batote road and it took more than 12 hours of grilling exercise by BRO men and state machinery to restore the highway. The highway was restored but boulders and landslides on the National Highway-1B give one an indication of things to come if state government continues with its abhorrent attitude towards this most backward district.
The residents have been left to God both by state as well as the central governments for the reasons best known to them. Agony has been increased by the fact the erstwhile District Doda has one Cabinet and two ministers of state, all three of whom have not even bothered to issue a handout about the condition of the state. None of these three have visited the badly damaged road and not even once, made a statement whether a new road has been planned or how they would stabilise this road.
More importantly, one of these three is cabinet minister for Roads and Buildings and other is Minister of state for Roads and Buildings. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who often tweets on one or the other issue seemingly is not even aware that five people have lost life while several others have suffered serious injuries due to landslides and boulders on the Doda-Batote NH-1B.
Omar seems not to have been told that two Districts of Kishtwar and Doda are on the verge of getting disconnected from rest of the country if steps are not taken on war-footing basis. Massive landslides and shooting stones has become a regular feature on Batote-Kishtwar highway and the government is clueless. If a commoner is asked in erstwhile District Doda about the bad state of roads, he says that it is no Kashmir and hence, none is bothered about this huge population.
Even as the frequent landslides on the roads have already claimed about a dozen of lives, the situation that is turning grave with every passing day is yet to attract attention of the state government. Pertinently, Batote-Kishtwar highway remained closed for vehicular movement for at least 14 days in year 2013. While earthquakes and tremors followed by heavy snowfall and incessant rains this winter have added to their miseries, the residents are fret over the indifferent attitude of the government that has failed to respond.
People here said that landslides and shooting stones were result of recent earthquakes, which the government laughed at by not even appointing a geological team to find out extent of damage caused to the land in erstwhile District Doda. "Incessant rains and snowfall is not new for this mountainous region. But this year landslides and sinking of land have become order of day leading to reasonable apprehension. Earthquakes have caused serious damage across erstwhile District Doda," said a local Rajiv Singh, a businessman in Doda. |
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