Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Aug 27: To improve the connectivity of picturesque Gurez in north Kashmir with the rest of the State, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), under the project BEACON, today said it is carrying out the macadamisation and repair works of the 85-kilometer road between Bandipora and Gurez.
Started in this season, the macadamisation and road construction is being done from Mantrigam village in Bandipora to Tulail area in Gurez sector, a BRO statement said.
Col Amit Chander Commander of 32 BRTF said that the Bandipora-Gurez road is being black topped and repaired to enhance connectivity of the hilly Gurez area with the rest of the state and reduce the travelling time of passengers and also increase development activities in the region.
He while expressing his concern for not achieving the targets said that last year no signification work was executed on ground on the Bandipora-Gurez road link in the wake of the unrest in Kashmir. The BRO has now geared up to meet the challenges by doubling its efforts to meet the set target”, the Col said.
He said that macadamisation and road repairing is being done with expert engineering keeping in view the weather and hilly topography of the region. “It is important to mention that the area witness the highest snow accumulation during winters and the road remains under the snow cover for five months cutting short its life,” said Col Amit.
“Black topping and repairing is done with expertise to improve the quality of the road as per Snow Bound Norms (SBN). At some stretches, Crust Stone Base (CSB) is done for snow bound areas,” he said, adding “such methods are adopted to counter frost action during extremely cold winter.”
The BRO statement said under the project, road widening of entire 85 kilometer from Bandipora to Gurez has been taken up and completed besides construction of retaining walls to add up strength to road at slide prone areas.
“In Gurez town, the BRO is macadamizing the road from Dawar- to Neeru. Also, road surfacing is done from Dawar to Barnoi and from Dawar to Chakwali road formation has been sanctioned and the process will be started this season. Besides two bridges-one at Zudkhushi area over Badra nallah and another at Dahi Nallah- are being constructed,” it said.
The BRO statement said the 35 meter long and 12 meter wide bridge over Badra nallah will be completed in next year. “Work on two abetments is in process, while an approach road is in formation stage. The bridge is PSC Box girder,” said Major Praveen Koshy, Officer Commanding of 56 RCC, adding the work was started in 2016. About the Dahi nallah bridge, the officer said that the work was started in 2014 and the bridge will take nearly a month to be functional.
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