Commuting on ‘ignored’ Dr Ali Jan Road becomes nightmare for people

View of dilapidated Dr. Ali Jan Road. - Excelsior/Shakeel
View of dilapidated Dr. Ali Jan Road. - Excelsior/Shakeel

Work on; will be completed by February end: Officials

Irfan Tramboo

Srinagar, Dec 20: Commuting on the ‘neglected’ Dr Ali Jan Road has become a nightmare for people even as the officials today said that the work of connecting the drainage under the road is expected to be completed by February end.
Due to the pending drainage work, the process of properly macadamizing the road has also been hanging in balance, as a result, the commuters are facing immense hardships.
Officials said that there was some delay in getting the permission for the road-cut from the R&B Department to carry out the necessary works and the same shall be now completed by the end of February, if weather permits.
It is to be noted here that the two-lane road connecting two major hospitals in Srinagar has been lying in a bad shape for the last sometime now, even as the macadamization was earlier carried out up to Aali Masjid point, however, the portion where the drainage works were to be executed, was left out.
As per officials, permission for the road-cut by the Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED) was sought from the R&B which took some time and then, the UEED was asked to deposit the estimated cost meant to be paid as compensation for cutting the road.
After the UEED deposited the estimated sum, the clearance for cutting the road was given after a meeting that was held with the Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar which was also attended by all the concerned departments.
The officials said that the concerned department finally got the clearance to cut the road and carry out necessary works in September.
However, that was not it as the PHE department then stepped in with their objections which further derailed the work, followed by the Traffic Department which also raised a few objections.
Officials said that the matter then took a month more to be resolved, causing further delay in the work on the key-road in the Srinagar city even as the same could have been easily taken up in September without pushing it to the winter season.
The Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) of UEED Er Fayaz Mehta told Excelsior that the work is going on at a fast pace and that they are expecting the same to finish by February end.
“We have to carry out the work on 1 kilometre of the road out of which 300 meters have already been completed; we have tasked two teams for the work which are currently working,” he said.
On the other hand, commuters are facing a tough time as the one lane of the road-where the work is going on-has been blocked. The traffic that has to use one single lane available often witnesses congestion due to which people are suffering on a routine basis.
“While people are suffering, the ambulances are also facing a tough time as one lane of the road stands blocked; more so, there are potholes at several places from Aali Masjid to Syedpora which further make commuting difficult,” a local said.