GK NEWS NETWORK

Srinagar, July 25: Despite repeated assurances, successive regimes failed to meet deadlines in the construction of flyover at busy Hyderpora square in south City.
 Finally, three months ago, the Roads and Building (R&B) department said only half of the flyover would be completed by December this year and thrown open for traffic. But this deadline too is expected to be missed due to “slow pace of work” on the prestigious project.
 Given the present pace, sources said, it would take two more years to complete the entire work.
 The delay on flyover at the intersection of the Airport Road and Bypass has been causing severe inconvenience to the travelers, and the residents whose houses have been damaged allegedly due to the ongoing work.

THE GENESIS
 In 2006, the National Highway Authorities of India allotted the Rs 62.95 crore flyover work to the state’s R&B. The work, officials said, was to be completed within 18 months.
 But due to “snail’s pace”, even the paperwork of design couldn’t be put to place in-time. Subsequently the deadline was extended.
 Finally, after 18 months on the designing, the ground work started but deadlines of project completion never realized.
 Since then around half a dozen deadlines expired mocking at the government claims of starting double-shift work on developmental projects.

HALF WORK MOCKERY
 Embarrassed at the slow pace of work just next to the Airport Road frequented by VVIPs including the Chief Minister, in December past year, the R&B Minister, GM Saroori directed the authorities to speed up the work. After a high-level meeting, Saroori announced that the flyover would be ready by June 2010.
 Just two months later, he not only extended the deadline by six months but said only half of the work would be completed.
 To avoid any further embarrassment, the news was floated vide an official handout which conveyed the delay through apparent jugglery of words.
  “The Minister was assured that the one tube of the flyover would be ready by December this year,” reads the handout of February 23.
 Sources said a senior R&B official in the Civil Secretariat had floated the “half flyover commissioning plan”.
 The development had transpired at a high-level meeting which amongst others was attended by Commissioner Secretary, R&B,  Mehboob Iqbal, Chief Engineers of R&B, Srinagar and Jammu, Chief Engineer, MED, Kashmir besides officers and representatives from National Highway Authority of India and M/s Vollacaha Co, the contractor.

‘HALF IS ENOUGH’
 R&B officials said completion of one of the two tubes of the flyover was enough to cater to the traffic flow on the Bypass.
 “It(one tube) is going to be 10 meter wide, enough for two way traffic,” said an R&B official requesting not to be named.

OFFICIALS SPEAK
 Officials said massive slabs had to be laid on the 900 odd meter flyover stretching over nine concrete spans.
 Presently, the shuttering is being laid on four spans. The slabs, the officials said, are expected to realize in three months after which work will be started on the remaining.
 “But of these five, the central span is to be constructed separately only after all the other spans will be in place. This way the work will take over nine months,” said an insider in the R&B department.
 But the R&B officials insist that one of the tubes of the flyover would be ready by December.
 “We are working at it,” said a senior official associated with the project.
 He pleaded that in the past several “technical and climatic problems” had hampered the work.
 “The weather has been playing a spoilsport most of the times this year and the construction site is at a crucial junction where traffic movement has to be given preference,” he added.
 Besides, the official said, the flyover work was “entirely dependant” on non-local labour who don’t stay back during winters.
 “We also need to take into account the overall situation particularly the Hartals,” he added.

DAMAGES AWAIT COMPENSATION
 Many a residential house in the vicinity of the construction site developed cracks during earth digging.
 Officials reportedly have admitted the flyover work caused the damages.
 In 2008, the Mos Housing and Urban Development department Nasir Sogami who is also the local MLA visited the Hyderpora square area and sought compensation for the affected families.
 “But till now we haven’t been paid even a penny and the government is just sleeping over the issue,” said one of the affected families.
 “We suffered losses worth lakhs  of rupees,” they said while pointing towards the cracks in the house.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST