District administration of Reasi is bringing the onus of bad condition of Katra-Reasi and Katra – Domail road to the doorsteps of Border Roads Organization. The users of these roads are mostly the pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine and Shiv Khori Shrine. Informed source say that these roads are in the charge of BRO and it is the duty of this organization to repair and maintain them. The condition of the roads is miserable and as the asphalt has been uprooted with the proposal of replacing it with new black topping, only the firs part of the project has been completed and that is of uprooting the old asphalt. Thus the roads have been made unserviceable for vehicular traffic. This has been causing serious communication and transportation problems for the pilgrims and local inhabitants. It appears that having exhausted its resources on spot, the district administration has brought the dilapidated condition of the roads to the notice of the Home Secretary who had recently been on a visit to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. BRO falls within the jurisdiction of the Union Home Ministry.
It is some time that district administration of Reasi and BRO unit posted there have not been pulling together nicely. There could be minor irritants and obstacles here and there but this should not become an issue for the district administration and the BRO to be contested fiercely between them. Millions of pilgrims come and go along these roads and it is the moral duty f the BRO to keep the roads in trim. Number of pilgrims to Shiv Khori, too, has been showing upward graph. We expect BRO authorities to be fully conscious of their responsibility of maintaining the actual condition of two roads that bring millions of pilgrims to these shrines year after year. It will be a matter of shame if these roads are left in a dilapidated condition.
BRO has undertaken important and prestigious projects in the State. Six lining of the National Highway is among its big projects. Likewise the BRO is also undertaking smaller projects in order to facilitate road connectivity in our state that has a long and hilly track to deal with. We have to be thankful to the workforce of this organization engaged in rendering yeoman’s role in carrying the State onwards to prosperity. But at the same time, we want to say with pride that this remarkable national asset has already brought about a sea change in the profile of the State. BRO has a mega project in our State and we are expecting it to play the leading role. We would advise a round table meeting in Reasi of political leaders, district administrative functionaries and the BRO representative to debate the causes of delay in repairing the roads or in building new roads. The outcome of these discussions should be the guiding principle for normal performance of BRO in the region.
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