`Govt facing shortage of funds to carry out repair works’
The rains and bad weather has damaged over 2000 kms road length in the Valley and the government is facing shortage of funds to carry out the repair works.
According to officials of Roads and Buildings (R&B) department, about 2100 kilometers road length have been damaged by the rains in the Valley.
“It was unlikely that the entire road length of 2,100 kilometer will be repaired this year due to the paucity of funds and the limited working season. The road macadamization can be carried out during a limited period of time only as there is a requirement to maintain a constant temperature of 25 degree Celsius to carry out the repairs,” they said.
The officials said at many places the damaged patches, which were macadamized, have been washed away by the rains in last two months.
In view of the limited working season for road works, the repair of damages will spill over to 2-3 years in the Kashmir division,” they said.
Officials said over Rs 1,000 crores are required for repairing the damaged roads in the Valley. “The government is short of funds to carry out the repair works”.
“The consistent rainfall has also stalled the repair work as rains wash away the repair works. Both the shortage of funds and inclement weather has halted the work to make the damaged roads motorable again,” said a senior official of R&B department.
The pot-holed roads are a common scene in Kashmir. Not only the internal roads but even the main roads in the city and towns have been badly damaged by the rains and last year’s floods.
Officials said matter of shortage of funds has been taken up with Union Ministry of Road Transport and they have assured that the funds will be provided to the state.
“The Central government has informed us that separate projects need to be send for repairing the damages to each road and work will be covered under different schemes,” they said.
Chief Engineer R&B, Satish Razdan, said the department has recently taken up with the Central government about requirement of funds and they have assured that the funds will be released immediately.
“Some of the road projects have also been sanctioned,” he said.
Razdan, however, admitted that inclement weather has hit the road repair works in Kashmir and the maintenance of the roads has been affected.
“We are trying to work over-time to ensure that the damaged roads are made motorable at the earliest,” he added.
