Rajouri: People in Rajouri are irked at the prolonged delay in the completion of three vital road and bridge projects started in the district years ago.
The projects were started to improve the road connectivity in and around the town. Now the demand for early completion of these projects is gathering pace.
Three vital projects were started four to five years ago in and around Rajouri town to improve road connectivity in the town.
These projects include the construction of Vedanta Aashram Bridge and circular road from this bridge to Abdullah Bridge via Tariq Bridge, construction of another bridge alongside Abdullah Bridge in Gujjar Mandi Market, and construction of the bridge from highway Panjpeer to Jawahar Nagar Thudi which has been named Batala Mang Bridge.
Official sources said that the work for the construction of Vedanta Aashram Bridge connecting Nabban Mohalla of the town with the highway was started five years back and completed after which a circular road was to be constructed.
They said that this circular road starts from Vedanta Aashram Bridge to Tariq Bridge and then Tariq Bridge to Abdullah Bridge which was named the Circular Road of Rajouri town.
The official sources said that a few hundred meters stretch on the road from Abdullah Bridge had been constructed but the remaining road stretch was yet to be constructed after the earthwork. They said that the area had also been damaged at several locations in flash floods. Regarding the second project of the alternate bridge along the Abdullah Bridge, the official sources said that this was the most-demanded project for Rajouri town as it was located on the Gujjar Mandi to Main Bus Stand Road and was the busiest road.
They said that the bridge alongside Abdullah Bridge was needed to ease traffic congestion and work on this bridge was started two and half years ago and only the bridge slab was to be laid.
The work on this bridge has been suspended for the past six months, causing an inordinate delay in the completion of the project.
The third project of Batala Mang Bridge consists of the construction of a concrete bridge on the river from highway Panjpeer to Thudi Lower Jawahar Nagar along with its approach road.
This project would ease traffic congestion in Jawahar Nagar and Panja localities but work on this bridge has been suspended for the past four years due to objections of the Army on a piece of Army land in the vicinity of the bridge site.
Locals said that all these projects were of immense importance for Rajouri town but prolonged delay in the completion of the projects was a cause of concern.
They demanded immediate intervention from the government for clearing bottlenecks in the completion of these three projects. Executive Engineer Roads and Buildings Department Rajouri, Maqbool Hussain told Greater Kashmir that the bridge at Batala Mang falls under the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC).
He said that work on the other two projects was suspended due to certain reasons but work on both had been resumed and the department was trying to maintain a good pace of work.