Srinagar, Sep 15: In 2008, government started a prestigious project to upgrade Nallahmar Road, a key connectivity to Shahr-e-Khaas, by laying new drainage system, water pipes and blacktopping. Three years on, the work has missed the deadline by a year while the road is in a bad condition as only one of the two lanes is operational.
  The residents of the old City are up in arms against the government for failing to complete  the work as the dilapidated road is causing them inconvenience.

THE PROJECT
 The road construction project from Noor Bagh-Sekidafar-Rajouri Kadal-Bohri Kadal with an estimated cost of Rs 132 crore was started in 2008 under a centrally sponsored Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission(JNURM). The project was scheduled to be completed within two years from its inception. However, due to “haphazard and snail paced” work it missed the deadline.

PUBLIC INCONVENIENCE
 The residents living within the vicinity of Nallahmar complained that the road had been in a dilapidated condition for past many years adding that the JNURM project worsened it.
 They said the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) started the work on the four kilometer track by taking up the road digging work to lay drainage pipes. “But the work didn’t bear fruits even after three years.”
 “One of the lanes looks bombarded. It has become a serious worry for us. We have been appealing to the government since long about this miserable condition but they didn’t pay any heed to our grievances. The administration is deliberately neglecting this serious problem,” aggrieved residents of Nallahmar road said.
 As one of the roads is in a bad condition, the vehicular traffic plies on single lane thereby creating chaos. This, as per the locals, has been a cause of accidents injuring many people from time to time.
 “The huge rush on the single lane also leads to traffic jams,” they said.

NBCC FACTOR
 Concerned Executive Engineer, Roads and Buildings Department (R&B), Iqbal Ahmad said the only reason behind the dilapidated condition of Nallahmar road was slow pace of work by NBCC.
 “They (NBCC) had taken up the project of installing sewage pipes on this four kilometer long road from Noor Bagh to Bohri Kadal. But till now they have installed the pipes in the mid area alone (i.e. from Sekidafar to Rajouri Kadal) while two ends (Noor Bagh to Sekidafar and Rajouri Kadal to Bohri Kadal) have been left half way,” the Executive Engineer Iqbal Ahmad told Greater Kashmir.
  “After digging the road, the NBCC had left the debris scattered on the road and our team cleaned it a couple of days before Eid-ul-Fitr in order to make it temporarily operational,” Iqbal added.
 “We are starting restoration work of the road from Sekidafar to Rajouri Kadal soon,” he added.
 Similar were the views of UEED Chief Engineer Ahmad Muzaffar Lankar about NBCC.
 The Public Health Engineering Department (PHE) officials also shifted the blame to NBCC saying they have left the work half way.
 “We have completed our work and now only three connections are left that too on the roadside which has nothing to do with the main road. We will complete those connections within one week,” GR Zargar, Chief Engineer, PHE told Greater Kashmir.
 On the other hand, repeated attempts to contact NBCC’s Deputy General Manager, Muhammad Rafiq proved futile.
 A lower rung NBCC official however said the project got delayed due to “some problems”.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:00:00 IST