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| Doda roads ill-planned, slide prone, accidental; govt unmoved | | Accountability withers | |  Syed Junai Hashmi
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, July 21: Death dances naked on ill-planned, slide-prone and 'accidental' roads across district Doda. Worst hit are roads connecting Doda town with villages adjoining it and also the highway towards Kishtwar.
Submergence of Pul-Doda has resulted in local authorities allowing a patch of road near critical Doda Bridge on Batote-Kishtwar national highway to be used as a makeshift bus-stand. Even that patch of road is yet to be macadamized for the reasons best known to the authorities in command of the situation.
Batote-Kishtwar road, which is popularly known as National Highway (NH) 1B, is in extremely bad shape. The road is extremely risk oriented. Apart from being slide-prone, road is badly damaged and has death waiting for you at every fifth kilometer once you cross Prem Nagar town. A little left or right and you are in the arms of Death.
From Thathri town begins the worst. Road is rugged, bumpy and slide-prone. Even the stretch near prestigious Dul-Hasti project is yet to be macadamized. Same is the condition of roads inside Kishtwar town, which is now district headquarter. Such is the callousness and casual approach that roads taken up under Prime Minister's Grameen Sadak Rozgar Yojana (PMGSRY) have seemingly been abandoned.
Wherever work is going on, it is at snail's pace. Take any road adjoining Doda town and you would get to know the pace of work. Dust, sand and stones is what you would get once you reach Doda and think of visiting scenic villages adjoining it. Local leaders complain of non-seriousness and lack of accountability on the part of agencies involved in road construction.
A detailed survey carried out by a team of Early Times revealed that Sah road, Bharat road, Doda-Babore-Jijote via Seel road, Doda-Beoli-Bijarni road, Bagla-Dal Draman road, Dali-Kualhand road, Udainpur-Kalihand road, Balagrain-Bari road and Balgrain-Mangota road have been taken up for execution and left mid-way.
Roads are 'accidentally motorable' and with administration preferring to redress local aspirations blindly, commercial vehicles are being allowed to ply especially Tata Sumos. Administration does not take note of the fact that the roads are yet to be macadamized and at places, even the leveling has not been done. Yet it is allowing the vehicles to ply on almost all these routes.
Vice-President of Congress and Sarpanch Javed Malik maintained that road construction work has come to a standstill.
"We have been knocking at the doors of administration off and on for these roads. These are not only in bad shape but almost non-motorable. Most of these roads are part of government of India's PMGSY scheme. Even then, work is going on at Snail's pace," added Malik. He urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to take up the issue with the concerned agencies and get the same done within shortest possible time. Another political leader said that administration has been unable to come to the grips with situation. "They are unable to tame the contractors involved in the road construction work. They come and go without anyone holding them accountable for their work," added the leader requesting anonymity |
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