Srinagar, May 15: Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah’s Tweet on his SUV drive to Gumri on May 11 has triggered a debate on other popular social networking site –the Facebook –with Srinagarites saying that he should take out time to know the plight of the City roads. Omar had driven up to Gumri, 114 kms from here, to inspect the progress of upgradation and widening of Srinagar-Leh highway project.
 A post by prominent Kashmiri journalist Yusuf Jameel triggered a debate on his wall when he wrote: “Omar Abdullah today drove from Srinagar to Gumri. Hope he finds time to explore interior Srinagar roads also. And bears it too!”
 After a few comments from his net pals in the past few days, Jameel shared an anecdote in his typical net jargon: “A journalist friend from Dubai was in town last week. I took him around Srinagar while he had already been to some places outside the City.
 While discussing probability of exerting a pull on Arab travellers, which our tourism authorities tell us has been the spotlight of their endeavour which includes frequent visits to the Gulf by them and ministers for the past many years without actually drawing any dividend, he remarked ‘Given the infrastructure, the condition of your roads, the dirt that one finds all around and what you have to offer don’t even think of them showing up.”
 Prominent Columnist Zahid G Muhammad reacted saying: “We can market- Have Life Time Experience- Drive In Srinagar- Break Your Bones- Or Drive With Plugged Nostril- Kashmir Tourism New Experience.”
 A Wahid a netizen commented that “Let Omar come to his ancestral Soura , its adjoining localities and other interior areas like Elahi Bagh, Shah Faisal Colony and so on… He will feel sad to see the drains left halfway, the defaced humpy bumpy lanes, the heaps of dirt and garbage.”
 “The dirtiest City is called Srinagar. Here driving on the roads is dangerous, thunderous and wondrous,” he added.
 Pertinently the ruling coalition has drawn severe criticism for allegedly failing to provide decent road connectivity to the people. There’s hardly a road without potholes in the summer Capital, from which the National Conference fetched all the eight seats in the last Assembly elections.
 Last year the government diverted rupees thirty crore meant for Srinagar roads to Jammu pleading that the money couldn’t be spent in-time in the summer capital till the macadamization season ended.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 15 May 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 15 May 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 16 May 2011 00:00:00 IST