Bandipora, Aug 31 (KNO): Despite the tall claims of the government that Jammu and Kashmir has achieved the highest road length in the country so far under PMGSY programme but still there are a number of hilly areas in district Bandipora where all weather road connectivity have remained a distant dream.
The residents of Gujarpati Tangwari in Kehnusa village of Bandipora are up in arms against the worst condition of the under construction road of PMGSY.
Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the residents alleged that they are totally dependent on this road for daily commute and suffer a lot due to its bad condition. They said that the construction work was left midway by the PMGSY which remained incomplete as the department denied land compensation to people in lieu of land offered.
“Four years have passed but no concrete effort has been made by the authorities to solve the problem and the daily commute of residents of Gujarpati continues to be dangerous on this one-lane mud road.”
They, however, explained that a deadlock over the compensation between landowners and the government has equally dented the project. “The landowners provided land through their orchards to PMGSY for the construction of the road but did not receive any compensation, that is why people who provided land have halted work,” said Hashim Din, a local.
The locals showed strong resentment against PMGSY for failing to complete the project on the stipulated time.
“The work on this project was started in 2016, we offered our precious land for road construction for residents of Tangwari but the department is denying compensation to us. We are moving from pillar to post in seeking our right but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears of the concerned officials. Four years have passed but there is no progress on the road due to the stubborn approach of PMGSY officials,” Qazi Mudasir, another local said.
He added that the authorities are denying the compensation despite receiving an amount of around Rs 1.5 crores for the project. “I am at loss to understand that a whopping amount of 1.5 crores of rupees has been sanctioned for just 1km of the road yet the compensation is being denied to the affected families,” another local said.
The residents of Gujarpati Tangwari with a population of around 500 people, already lack better road connectivity and delay in this road cause severe hardships to them especially during winters.
They appealed to the Lieutenant Governor to personally intervene in this matter—(KNO)
