Srinagar, Jan 29: For the past around a year the Malla-Bagh –Ellahi Bagh road is in a mess since the day drainage work was started in the area. For now even though the drainage pipes have been laid, the road hasn’t been properly repaired thereby putting people to inconvenience. In 2011, National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) started a sewerage project on Mala-Bagh –Ellahi Bagh road, one of the key links to SK Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, by laying sewerage pipes.  Although sewerage pipes are laid upto Mallabagh but authorities are yet to decide about blacktopping and it is unlikely that the macadamization will take place in near future.
 The residents and the traders’ community of the area   are up in arms against the government for leaving the road in shambles.
  The locals of Malabagh said that the sewerage work in our area was completed almost three months back. “But since then no initiative was taken to get the road repaired through macadamization,” the locals said while demanding immediate repairs of the road.
 The condition of the road is so messy that it has created grave problems for the people especially shopkeepers there.
 “It is very difficult to walk on this road , as it is full of mud and further the cold weather is adding  to our woes . A number of people have slipped on this road due to slippery conditions causing severe injuries to them,” Ashiq Ahmad, a resident of Malabagh told Greater Kashmir
  Shopkeepers of the area are also worried as the dilapidated condition of the roads is causing them huge financial losses and adding to their miseries.
 “No customer prefers to buy any commodity for our shops as they find it difficult to walk on this muddy road. As a result it is affecting our economic conditions,” said Ajaz Ahmad.
  “Many times we approached the authorities but no heed was paid to our complaints,” Ajaz complained.
 Locals also said that the affected route is also creating problems for the students as it is one of the link roads that connects Soura with Kashmir University.
 “If the administration continues to ignore our problems, we will launch massive protest against them,” they said.
 The locals complained that the road has become accident prone as recently a vehicle got stuck in a pothole causing damages to the vehicle.
 When contacted, an official of the NBCC said: “We have stopped  work on the road because of the cold weather and snowfall. We’ll soon restart it.”
 Meanwhile the residents have appealed the District Development Commissioner Baseer Ahmed Khan to look into the matter.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 IST