R&B dept ‘forgets’ Qamarwari-Shalteng road widening
While pathetic condition of roads in Srinagar is no secret, the Roads and Buildings department has failed to complete some key projects in the summer capital for years together. The widening of Qamarwari-Shalteng road is a case in point.
Started in 2010, the widening of 2.7 km Qamarwari-Shalteng road was approved for completion at Rs 13.79 crore by the fixed deadline of July 2012. Later, the deadline was extended by another year. The department missed it too.
According to officials, “illegal occupation” of land—which the State hasn’t retrieved—along the stretch has been one of the impediments in the way of project completion. “For its own land, the State has to now pay the land acquisition cost which is many times more than the total cost of the project,” an official, privy to the matter, said.
Sources said 89 residential and commercial structures—spread on 31 kanals of land—were coming in the way of widening of the road. These structures are presently housing 50 families and 239 shopkeepers.
“A survey reveals that widening of the road involves acquisition of only 10 kanal proprietary land on which structures also exist,” said a senior official.
He said over the years, the “political-bureaucrat nexus” has given “patronage to illegal occupation of state land across the Valley.”
“The road stretch of Qamarwari- Shalteng is one such example where the state has to pay for its own land as its officials have failed to act against violators in time,” he said.
As per the R&B department, the valuation of these structures has also been done and it needs Rs 9.56 crore as compensation cost for the land which the government couldn’t retrieve from “illegal occupants.” Rs. 6.56 crore is required for acquisition of structures and Rs three crore for land compensation. Besides, Rs 23.9 crore is also required for rehabilitation of 239 shopkeepers at the rate of Rs 10 lakh per business unit.
Against the huge financial requirement of Rs 33.46 crore, just Rs one crore has reportedly been released.
Talking to us, Chief Engineer, Roads and Building, Satish Razdan said there is no provision for compensation of structures and land under Central Road Fund (CRF) and “therefore, the compensation cost has to be met out of the State Plan.”
“However the paucity of funds has halted the road widening, but it would be done soon,” he said.
While the Minister for Roads and Buildings Syed Altaf Bukhari Tuesday said the Parimpora-Narbal road will be completed this year, the assurance seems to be a “mere verbal promise” given the financial crunch that the state is witnessing and the amount required for completing the project.
The R&B department’s slackness in timely execution of the project has only worsened traffic mess on the vital road that connects Srinagar with north Kashmir.
Every day, chaotic scenes of traffic mess are witnessed on the road, giving extremely tough time to commuters.
