Baramulla, May 10: The residents of villages living along the Gharkote Muhri to Kallar road in the Uri area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district have expressed their anguish over the failure of authorities to macadamise the road due to which the entire population of the area has been facing severe hardships.
The aggrieved residents while showing their resentment over the continuous deteriorating condition of the road said that the department of PMGSY initiated macadamisation work on the three-kilometer road starting from Gharkote Muriel to Kallar around three years back.
They said although some portion of the road stretch was macadamised while a major portion of the road of more than 2 km had been left unattended as a result the entire population of the area is facing immense hardships.
“The road is in shambles,” said Shafeeq Ahmad. “The transporters are unable to operate their vehicles as the muddy road remains a huge obstacle in smooth traffic movement,” added Shafeeq.
The locals said that the road condition is extremely bad and residents of several villages living along the three km road are unable to use their own vehicles as vehicles get stuck in the mud. The entire road stretch after the recent rainfall has turned muddy.
“If there is a need to shift a patient to the hospital we have to carry him on shoulders as vehicles don’t ply over the road,” said Muhammad Munawar a resident of Gharkote Uri.
The locals, while sharing their ordeal, said that apart from bad road conditions, the villagers of the area whose land has been used to construct this road have not yet received compensation. They said despite their repeated requests to the authorities, they are yet to receive compensation.
“We have not received compensation against our land which has been used for the construction of the road. The authorities need to address our issue at the earliest so that people of the area are relieved from ordeal and agony,” said Muhammad Jamal.
When contacted the PMGSY authorities at Uri said that the road is under execution.
“The work on the road was started recently, however, owing to recent rains, the work has been stopped. Once there is improvement in weather conditions, the work will resume,” said Assistant Executive Engineer, PMGSY Uri, Mohsin Janwari.
Meanwhile, the Sub Divisional Magistrate when contacted over the issue of land compensation said that he will look into the matter.
“I didn’t know about the issue. However, I will look into the matter and if the problem is genuine it will be resolved in a stipulated time,”said SDM Uri.