Illegal encroachments have stalled widening of Tral-Awantipora road passing through Dadsara, often choking traffic in and out of main township of Tral and causing immense difficulties to thousands of people every day.
The encroachment in the form of shops, buildings and footpath vendors are causing frequent inconvenience to people including school children, employees and patients visiting Sub-District hospital Tral.
The Tral-Awantipora road which passes through Dardsara is one of the busy roads in the town, leading to some important offices and schools including SDH Tral, government girl’s higher secondary school in the town, additional deputy commissioner’s office, Khankah-e-Faiz Panah, court complex and the police station.
Residents complain emergency vehicles get blocked in traffic jams every day while taking patients to the hospital, endangering lives.
“Even the ambulances at times find it difficult to pass through. Imagine the situation when they are carrying heart attack victims and women in labour,” said Bhat Saleem, a shopkeeper at Hamdania market.
Government agencies had managed to remove most of the encroachments on this road, but many illegal structures at Muqdam Mohalla still remain intact causing frequent trouble.
Official sources say years have passed since Roads & Buildings department took up widening work on this 10-km stretch, but encroachments have hindered completion.
“Every day it takes me almost two hours to travel two kilometers from Tral to Hurdmir. Authorities must quickly remove the bottleneck on our road so that no one suffers,” said Altaf Ahmad, a commuter.
Haphazard parking by shopkeepers and customers has further choked the approach road, aggravating the traffic mess on this vital road.
“Still the authorities seem to be reluctant to act against encroachers,” a resident said, appealing the government to remove the encroachments.
Deputy Commissioner Pulwama told Greater Kashmir he was awaiting funds from the government to rehabilitate the shopkeepers and house owners.
“We cannot remove the encroachments unless we get the money from the government for their rehabilitation and compensation,” said the DC, Ghulam Mohammad Dar.