Srinagar, Sep 2: Even as road accidents around the Srinagar Bypass continue to consume precious lives, encroachments of vital service roads by certain commercial houses is making restoration efforts difficult, rendering the roads unusable.
 Alarmed at this situation, residents of various colonies around Hyderpora Bypass, including that of Gul Bahar Colony, Shah Anwar Colony, Green Park and Gulberg Colony have appealed the SMC and the R&B to take immediate steps to ensure that the roads are cleared and made usable for the public an earliest.
 "We appreciate the R&B Department and other agencies which have been working at a good pace to restore the service roads after the drainage work, but blockade of these roads is stalling the process completely. We wonder how could some people be allowed to just mock at the law", says Abdul Hameed Wani, a resident of  Shah Anwar Colony.
 People in the area are expressing concern that while service roads could help in preventing accidents, occupation of patches of these roads by a few commercial houses is making restoration work impossible.
 "We are observing that patches of the roads outside these commercial houses are being left undeveloped just because a large number of vehicles parked there makes work of the contractors impossible", says Abdul Qayoom Shah, another resident of the area.
 People are also worried that they continue to ply on wrong sides on the roads because the service roads remain occupied, risking lives. "We are mostly worried about our children, the elderly and women who are unable to cope with the heavy traffic rush of the bypass and not able to cross it. So many accidents happen just because service roads are not operational", says Abdul Hameed Shah, a resident of Green Lane, Hyderpora.
 The residents have demanded immediate clearance of the service roads and timely completion of the restoration work.
 The residents said  they would move Court should the administration fail to restore service roads, in absence of which deadly accidents are taking place on the highway.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 2 Sep 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 2 Sep 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 3 Sep 2012 00:00:00 IST