Srinagar, July 23: The ambitious Western Foreshore Road project has witnessed little progress despite passing of several years.
The project aiming to make the traffic flow on Dalgate to SaidaKadal route smooth is yet to see the light of the day. Officials said that in addition to streamlining the traffic, the purpose of the project is to prevent encroachment around Dal Lake’s western portion.
Officials from the concerned department said that the multi-crore project is to be around 3 km starting from Mamta Crossing near Dalgate up to the SaidaKadal. An official of Lakes & Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) said that there were certain aspects of the project which had to be cleared before the start of the project. He said it included the best-proposed alignment for the road, land acquisition, and rehabilitation of those of the affected families.
“There were three road alignments proposed by different departments and after much deliberation, the best alignment was chosen. Among the departments that proposed the alignments from LAWDA, R&B, and Survey of India. After the board of directors meeting, the proposal by LAWDA was approved. There were also land acquisition and rehabilitation aspects which were also addressed,” said an official.
In 2019, government had approved the alignment construction of 3.2-km of the project. The LG had also directed the authorities to come up with a rehabilitation plan for over 4,000 families who are likely to get affected by the road construction.
The officials from LAWDA said that the project is going to help in the overall conservation of Dal and also help to ease traffic congestion along Dalgate to Saidakadal. He said the majority of the formalities related to the project are completed and all the departments are coordinating so that the process is speeded up.
Feroz Ahmed Mir, Executive Engineer LAWDA said that although all the major formalities of the project is complete, however, the project is awaiting the funding part.
“As soon as the funding of the project will be finalized we will carry out the project. Government is very keen to carry out the project swiftly as it will help in both traffic streamlining and saving Dal from encroachers. The funding proposal has been forwarded to Srinagar Smart city officials and if everything went as expected, the work will start,” Mir said.
Earlier the officials said that the R&B department was asked to make a DPR which has been finalized. “The survey, land acquisition and technical the part stands completed and the project will be soon cleared and the work will commence on priority basis,” said another official