Bandipora, Sep 13: The inhabitants of North Kashmir’s Bandipora district have urged the district administration to initiate a thorough probe into the alleged use of substandard material for macadamization of roads.
 According to the locals, the recent downpour has washed away the blacktopping of the roads in the district, which were recently repaired and subsequently macadamized by the Roads and Buildings department.
 “The Department blacktopped several roads in the district few weeks ago and spent crores of rupees. However, the recent rains washed away the blacktopping of the roads,” the residents of the district told Greater Kashmir. The inhabitants accused the executing agency of allegedly using substandard material for road macadamization. “The blacktopping got erased due to rains, which speaks volumes about the quality of work done by the executing agency,” the locals said adding the senior functionaries of the Department should take cognizance of the matter and order a probe into it.
 According to sources, about 30 kilometers of inner roads link and other stretches of Bandipora district were repaired and subsequently macadamized by the R&B department. “The road stretches at Patushahi, Sonarwani, Athwatoo, Gamoora, Watrina and Panar have developed small potholes,” the locals said adding the engineers failed to maintain the standard of work on these roads. 
 "The money spent on repair and blacktopping of the road has been wasted,” said locals at Patushahi. They said that the road connecting Patushahi block with the rest of the Town is now dotted with small potholes. “We felt glad after our road was repaired and macadamized. But now we are highly disappointed with the substandard work done during the repairs,” the residents of the area told Greater Kashmir.
 Similarly, the residents of Athwatoo, Ajar and Sonarwani told Greater Kashmir that the road linking their area was blacktopped before few weeks, but the substandard work got exposed after potholes appeared on the road due to downpour.
 According to the people of these areas, they apprised the officials of the concerned department about the deteriorating road condition following rains. “However, the officials failed to take not of the matter,” the locals said.
 The residents urged the Chief Engineer R&B to order the probe at an earliest and take stringent action against the officials involved. 

Reports compiled by Suhail Ajmal

Lastupdate on : Thu, 13 Sep 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 13 Sep 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 14 Sep 2012 00:00:00 IST