The Government of J&K is all set to ensure smooth passage to pedestrians and vehicles in the city as one thousand kilometres of road is going to be macadamized in the coming days.
Chief Engineer Roads & Buildings (R&B) Showkat Jeelani said that as per the word given earlier, the Department of R&B has started macadamizing city roads. He said allotments are done while men and machinery have been pressed into service to complete the job.
“The allotted works to be completed during the first phase in a particular period,” Jeelani said.
He also said initially the Department of R&B has made a rough estimate in which about one thousand kilometres of the road would be macadamized under different heads.
“Yes, we had made a rough estimate of about 1000-kilometres of roads wherein potholes will be attended and the damaged portion would be macadamized,” Jeelani added.
According to the officer, these roads will be covered under different heads including NABARD, CRF, state heads, district heads etc.
“Let me clarify there are many things that need to be addressed. This is not simply to get the material and put it on roads. There is a process of tendering and then allotment which can’t be ruled out. We have to work under different schemes which need to be taken into account for ensuring blacktopping of roads,” Jeelani said.
He added that those works who had been allotted will be tried utmost to complete soon and also those who have not been allotted yet will also be taken up for early redressal after completion of the first phase of work.
To a query, the CE R&B said that in winters our plants remain shut due to weather vagaries and it needs time to restore their functioning with the onset of summer.
“So far few plants have started to resume their work and are providing material to us for construction or renovation of roads while many are still closed but we are hopeful the pace of work will get accelerated once all plants start to function,” he said.
The officer however asserted that the macadamization process would be accelerated in days to come and all allotted works would be completed in the shortest period of time.
“Hopefully by May 10 the maintenance work of roads would be stepped-up and all allotted works would be completed in the shortest period,” he added.
In a reply, the CE R&B said that roads are right now free from traffic snarls as authorities have imposed a Covid-19 lockdown in the valley so it will be an edge for the department to accelerate its work.
“As there is Covid19 lockdown in place and roads are majorly free from traffic jams, the Department of R&B will try to complete its major portion of work during these days”, Jeelani added.
Notably, the complaints were pouring in from almost every corner of Kashmir with people especially commuters saying that they are facing acute hardships as most of the roads have developed either potholes or are majorly damaged.
The commuters had appealed to the concerned authorities to macadamize the roads at the earliest to ensure smooth passage to the vehicular movement.
