Roads dotted with risky potholes in Sgr city, CE R&B’s assurances fall flat

Srinagar: Notwithstanding considerable improvement in weather conditions, authorities have failed to undertake repairs of dilapidated roads in the summer capital.
In absence of timely repairs, most of the roads including Srinagar Airport Road, Jehangir Chowk, Tourist Reception Center, Radio Kashmir, Ram Munshi Bagh, Sonwar, Batwara, Rangreth, Rawalpora, Sanatnagar, Dalgate, Mehjoor Nagar, Jawahar Nagar, Nowgam, Batamaloo, Lal chock, Bemina, Qamarwari and MA Road are dotted with potholes.
The authorities have so far failed to undertake repairs of dilapidated roads in the summer capital.
The people here said that though they visited the office of the district administration and Chief engineer Roads and buildings many times with the request for repairing the broken roads, but their requests have fallen on deaf ears.
“The condition of most busy and import Airport road is pathetic. Bad road make it difficult to drive on this stretch. ,” said Tahir of Humhama Airport road.
Inordinate delay by authorities to undertake repairs of Srinagar Airport is taking a heavy toll on the commuters.
The road is dotted with potholes and rough surface. The road has caved in at several places posing risk to commuters.
“We wonder why the authorities are sitting on repairs on this vital stretch” asked Nisar Ahmad, a local.
The road from Qamarwari, Noorbagh to Dalgate is in a bad shape causing inconvenience to commuters, especially students and office-goers.
“Nobody from the administration bothers to take steps to make the bumpy roads functional for the smooth traffic,” said a government employee.
“A distance which should be travelled in less than 40 minutes takes more than an hour because of the potholed roads of the city,” said Mushtaq Ahmad, an auto rickshaw driver.
“The non-seriousness of the authorities can be gauged by the fact that in the month of March, Chief Engineer R&B Sami Arif had said that the repair work of roads has been started. Almost two months have passed now, but no roads in the city have been repaired. It seems that the Chief Engineer is ignorant and does not bother to look into the matter,” said one of the commuters.
Road from Qamarwari leading towards Valley’s lone tertiary care hospital, SKIMS Soura is in shambles. This poses risk to lives of patients who are referred there from other hospitals,” said Mohammad Ismail, a resident of Safakadal.
During rains, the dilapidated roads turn into cesspools. “When water remains stagnant for a long time, it further damages roads,” a shopkeeper in commercial hub, Lal Chowk said pointing towards damaged stretch of road.
Taking the cognizance of the bad situation of the roads in the district, the Srinagar district administration in an order issued to R&B Department on April 10 sort details about officials and contractors for criminal proceedings. Even former chief minister Omar Abdullah has expressed concern over bad condition of roads.
Meanwhile most of the roads in Shaher-e-Khaas including Alamgari Bazar, Soura, Nowhatta are dilapidated.
The roads in rural areas are also in mess. Reports said that the roads in North and south Kashmir are in shabby condition, and travelling is proving to be back breaking experience.
The angry commuters here also accused Roads and Buildings (R&B) department of having failed to carry out necessary repairs of the roads.
“What is the fun of macadamizing when it (macadam) doesn’t last long? The authorities should take into account the hardships suffered by the commuters,” they said.
The experts believe that lack of planning, poor quality control and drainage system are the primary causes for the poor condition of roads in the city.
They said that that poor drainage leads to accumulation of water on the roads that eventually washes off a patch or leaves the roads with potholes.