Principal Secretary PWD, Shailender Kumar Monday conducted an extensive tour of district Ramban and inspected the pace of work on National Highway four laning works from Nashri to Banihal stretch.
He directed the NHAI to expedite the pace of work and macadamize the existing as well as identified newly constructed road stretch as per set deadline for smooth plying of traffic, especially during winter season.
Kumar directed the NHAI authorities to submit an action plan of construction agencies to clear landslides and snow and deal with any other emergency situations on the highway during the ensuing winter season.
He directed the construction companies to submit the details of planned maintenance activity at all vulnerable spots and sliding areas including Nashri, Dhalwas, Chanderkot, Mehar, Seri, Marog, Monkey Morh, Panthyal and Hingni.
Kumar directed the district administration to complete assessment cases of damaged houses at Dhalwas. The NHAI authorities were also directed to expedite GSI survey report besides accelerating the process to provide them compensation as early as possible.
The Principal Secretary reviewed section-wise progress on the four-laning of the highway including Nashri-Ramban and Ramban-Banihal sections.
During the meeting, the traffic management and NH-44 alignment issues were also discussed in detail. Keeping in view decreasing temperature in mountainous areas, agencies were directed to start blacktopping from Jawahar tunnel towards Makerkote on Banihal stretch.
Earlier, the DC apprised that all bottlenecks highlighted by the construction agencies hindering the pace of progress have been resolved.
Later, Kumar interacted with PRIs at Banihal, listened to their issues and passed on the spot directions for early redress of the issues.
Regional Director, NHAI Hem Raj said the purpose of the visit was to rectify the damages on the highway during the monsoon season and adopt a proactive approach to identify the vulnerable road stretches to ensure hassle free movement of vehicles during the forthcoming winters.