For the frequent closure of Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, many blame the ‘faulty’ excavation work being carried on along its Banihal-Ramban stretch.
“The excavation work being undertaken by the NationalHighway Authority of India (NHAI),” an official said, “triggers frequentlandslides due to which road remains blocked quite often”.
He said as the Banihal-Ramban stretch is already a landslideand shooting stone prone area, the standard engineering techniques are notbeing considered at all.
“The executing agency has ignored the safety part and itlacks any plan to tackle the weather vagaries,” an official said.
The NHAI, executing the widening project of highway 44 wassupposed to complete work on 36 Km Banihal–Ramban by 2019 only.
However, the concessionaries entrusted with the job, HCC,missed several deadlines due to its “lethargic approach” as well as “financialconstraints”, officials said.
An official said as part of the contract, the executing theagency was also supposed to keep the already existing Highway in proper workingcondition; however, it has failed to take proper care of the road.
The landslides have left the stretch further narrow due towhich the highway, considered to be the lifeline of the valley, either remainsmostly closed or operates only for one way traffic.
The closure of the Highway leads to short supply of stocksto Kashmir and steep hike in prices of essential commodities.
The stretch is also dotted with potholes and ditches makingthe journey along the Highway arduous and resulting in frequent traffic jams.The road also becomes vulnerable to accidents. The shooting stones have alreadyconsumed many precious lives in road accidents this winter.
In December, a Deputy Inspector General, CRPF and his driverwere killed as their vehicle plunged into a deep gorge after coming undershooting stones between Panthal and Digdole.
On March 7, a Srinagar youth was killed after a shootingstone hit his Creta vehicle near Marog Ramban.
Days before that incident an Anantnag Tavera driver waskilled and his passenger went missing after the vehicle they were on board fellinto a gorge due to the landslides near Cafetrai Morh Ramban.
Two Bolero vehicle bound passengers also lost their livesthis winter near T-2 tunnel Marog Ramban due to the landslides.
“The condition of the road is so bad that it is virtuallyimpossible for the vehicles to ply,” said a sumo driver Mushtaq Ahmad.
He said even a light snowfall or rain leads to the closureof the road and the passengers get stuck en-route for days together.
“This winter we witnessed many ambulances carrying the deadbodies to the valley, remained stranded on the highway for several days,” saidMuhamad Abrar of Ramban.
Even the airfares go sky high during the time when theHighway remains closed.
An official said, even as we are now stepping into April,the highway remains blocked at several places along the stretch due to theexcavation work. These places are; Hengni, Gangroo, Sherbibi. Kharpora, allbetween Banihal to Ramsoo and Marog,, Panthal, Digdol, Monkey Morh, Batterystream besides several other spots in the Ramban area.
This time, an official said, the two hundred-meter stretchof the road has caved in near Dalwas blocking the highway completely as theauthorities struggle to clear it.
“The non-availability of manpower and machinery is hinderingthe work,” he said..
Project Director, NHAI Ramban Purshotam Kumar, however saidthe damage to the 1.5 Km slope from Dalwas to Nashri has nothing to do withexcavation work.
Kumar, however, said due to the earthwork, the drainage hasbeen rendered defunct as a result of which the road is damaged in some places.
“The road is narrow at only certain points due tolandslides,” he said.