Waseem Ahmad
Srinagar, July 16: The deadlock between affected shopkeepers and administration over compensation and rehabilitation has stalled the road widening project at Qamerwari, causing immense hardships to the commuters.
Qamarwari junction often witness huge traffic jams due to the choked road as it has not been widened for decades, thus failing to pave hassle free movement of vehicles which pass through the junction.
The failure of authorities to relocate the shopkeepers has halted the road widening project that has been on cards for last many years, causing problems to both general public as well as the aggrieved shopkeepers.
As per commuters, the widening of the road would streamline traffic on the congested route but the project is pending for many years due to which people have to face hardships. “Because of the Government’s non-seriousness, people are suffering a lot as they often get stuck in traffic jams for hours due to bottlenecks. This is one of the main road link that connects north Kashmir with Srinagar and still authorities are not serious about the completion of the project,” Altaf Khan, a daily commuter said.
He said apart from the road widening, authorities are also not macadamizing the road as it is strewn with deep ditches and potholes giving bumpy rides to passengers. “The road has been left out in deplorable condition, dotted with big potholes that are making it tough for motorists to drive and people to walk,” he alleged.
Bilal Ahmad Mir, Secretary, All Traders Association Qamarwari said that the matter is still pending with the authorities as the compensation they are providing is not acceptable.
“Unfortunately, Government is still not shunning its stubbornness attitude over the compensation issue to the aggrieved shopkeepers. They are still willing to pay Rs 10 lakh per shop as compensation that was decided in 2002 but the amount is not enough as per current market value. The worst part is that 25 per cent of the amount given as compensation would be handed over to the property owners while only 75 per cent compensation would be given to the shopkeepers. How can we start a new venture with this little amount in hand,” he said.
“We held a meeting with a high level committee headed by the Divisional Commissioner recently, but the negotiations failed and the matter is still pending. The meetings were held with the officials for last several years about the issue but nothing happened till date. We are now planning to meet Governor and the representation for that has already been forwarded,” he said
“There were two phases in the project- Batamaloo-Qamarwari road widening and Qamarwari-Parimpora road widening. The first phase includes 80 shops that were planned to be removed. Out of 80 shops, 34 shopkeepers were provided shops at Economic Reconstruction Agency’s (ERA) complex at Rambagh and rest of the shopkeepers were provided compensation. In the second phase of the project, 254 shops have been identified that are to be removed from Qamarwari-Parimpora but the approval for that is still pending,” an official in the district administration said.
He said the matter has been already brought in the notice of a high level committee who will fix a date with the Divisional Commissioner regarding the meeting with aggrieved shopkeepers and then it will be decided whether they would be provided shops or compensation.
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