Though good roads are part of development in any part of the country and Jammu & Kashmir is no exception but unprecedented delays caused in resurfacing and repairs of roads damaged by snow clearance machines during snow clearance drives in the chilly months of winter paint a dismal picture of road connectivity in entire Kashmir valley including Srinagar the summer capital. Though resurfacing and repairs of roads should have been a priority for the R&B department in later part of the winter after mid February but unfortunately the R&B department fast tracks the repairs of roads in the later part of the autumn in the months of October and November when chilly season of winter starts disrupting normal public movement in Kashmir Valley. So R&B department starts the repairs of the roads somewhere towards the beginning of the winter after delaying it from the onset of summer in March and April till July and August and September the mid summer months. Presently rough patches and potholes in the middle of roads connecting Srinagar the summer capital to North and South Kashmir districts are not even filled by carrying out simple patch work and as per the routine practice of the R&B department the resurfacing and repairs of such roads won’t be probably started before the month of August and September as it takes the department months together to submit estimates and float tenders for repairs of roads. The road connectivity at the end of the day disrupts economic activities across Kashmir as the movement of commercial and passenger traffic takes a big hit on the roads connecting Srinagar with other district headquarters Kashmir valley.
Keeping in view the fact that since public activities having a direct bearing on the functioning of public institutions and business operations can’t be fast paced without prompt connectivity of rural and urban areas through good roads, delaying of resurfacing and repairs of roads is by no standards a good omen for either development and working of public institution or business operations in Kashmir valley.
Interestingly the condition of roads is also a bigger cause of fatal road accidents and irrefutable fact is that roads leading to hilly areas left unrepaired and unmacadamised for years together are more prone to roads accidents than the roads connecting plains of Kashmir. Though the roads connecting Srinagar with Baramulla and Anantnag towns are maintained by the border roads organisation (BRO) but these roads are more dilapidated than the roads maintained by the R&B department. Good roads don’t only disrupt the movement of goods but it also disrupts the punctuality of government employees in offices, schools, hospitals and banks and as such it is imperative for the government to repair the damaged roads well in time for the purposes of hassle free public movement across Kashmir. Keeping in view the fact that since public activities having a direct bearing on the functioning of public institutions and business operations can’t be fast paced without prompt connectivity of rural and urban areas through good roads, delaying of resurfacing and repairs of roads is by no standards a good omen for either development and working of public institution or business operations in Kashmir valley.
