S Tahir-ul Haq
Early Times Report
srinagar, July 9: The Government of India (GoI) has generously allocated funds for various developmental projects in Kashmir, but still there are scores of rural and hilly areas in various districts where all weather roads have remained a distant dream.
Sources said roads in higher reaches of some far flung areas of Kupwara district are in dilapidated conditions despite these roads failing under Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
The centrally sponsored PMGSY was launched by the GoI to provide connectivity to unconnected habitations as part of a poverty reduction strategy but the scheme has failed to connect far-flung villages in frontier areas of Kupwara district in north Kashmir.
The scheme was launched for rural areas, so that the common masses of hilly areas won't feel isolated, as for their employment, labour work, and other day today affairs are concerned, sources told Early Times.
They said that the department concerned has failed to achieve the target that they were given to construct roads in a stipulated time frame, the population in hilly areas has increased rapidly but they are suffering due to lack of roads.
Due to some personal influence, the road was completed for few families in the upper reaches of Tangdar and Karnah villages but a large population was left at the mercy of Almighty , said sources.
They said that even if we talk of Gurez thesil of Bandipora district, there are some areas including Nail Kanzalawan, Niru, Gujran, Gujran, Manz Gund, Dangi Thal, Buglinder B,Jurniyal and the upper forest areas, where the condition of roads is not good, during winters it remains cut off from rest of the world for many months together.
People from hilly areas have been demanding all weather roads with necessary culverts so that they can live a normal life in the woods, said sources.
The bad condition of roads in rural areas have also created unemployment in the state, as people have no access to education, the health conditions of rural areas are disappointed due to non availability of roads.
Sources alleged that in PMGSY, most of the work has not been completed, and people at the helm of affairs don't want to highlight such issues. |
