The residents of Kandi and Narwav area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district have complained of bad road condition in their area due to which commuters have to suffer on a daily basis and it has also undermined the tourism potential of the area.
The locals said that the 12 km road connecting Sheeri Narwav with the Laridora area is in shambles and the said the authorities have not carried out repair work on this road stretch since last several years.
“Large potholes and bumpy condition of the road is making life of locals miserable. The transporters are refusing to operate passenger vehicles as bad road condition inflicts damage to their vehicles,” said Jehangir Ahmad, a resident of Laridora Baramulla.
The residents of Kawhar, another village in Kandi Baramulla said that despite their repeated representation to the district authorities over the deteriorating condition of the roads, the administration does not give heed to their grievances. “Macadamisation of main road as well as link roads is a long pending demand here. We had raised the issue during the three Back to Village programs but there was no action from the government,” they said.
The residents fear that the condition of the roads will further deteriorate in the coming winters and it could have been avoided by timely macadamisation. The locals said that the good roads would be a boon for local economy as people from north kashmir would visit the tourist resort Gulmarg via kandi belt.
“The Baramulla-Gulmarg route via kandi area of Baramulla is a better alternate route for visitors. The kandi area also has a huge tourist potential of its own which could be exploited due to better roads only,” said Bashir Ahmad, a resident of Nilsar.