*Traffic to restore within a day or two: DC Udr
Bivek Mathur
JAMMU, Aug 5: Over one month has passed since the Ramnagar-Basantgarh road was closed for the vehicular movement due to a landslide at Gandh Top area on June 28 this year, the authorities are yet to restore the traffic on this important road, thus problems to the people living in the sub-division.
The Deputy Commissioner Udhampur, Sachin Kumar Vaishy, however, assured that the traffic on the 70 kilometre road shall be restored within a day or two by clearing off the debris from around 300 meters affected stretch and that an alternative road is already functional for the movement of the vehicles in the area the locals claim no such road exists.
“The traffic on the road shall be restored by tomorrow or the day after. As far as people’s claims are concerned, I counter them with the fact that an alternative road is functional in the area,” said the DC Udhampur.
He further said that another alternative road is also being planned to be constructed in the area to find a permanent solution to slippage at Gandh Top.
Giving details about this soon-to-be constructed road, Executive Engineer (XEn) of the area, Satish Bhagat, said, “the DC Udhampur has planned to sanction an 8 km road under PMGSY-IV from Balota to Tehsil Headquarters Basantgarh via Simni for a permanent solution to slippage at Gandh Top.”
“But this road will take some time to be constructed,” he said.
Asked how the people have been reaching the Sub-Divisional Headquarters Basantgarh when the traffic on the road has not been restored for the past over one month, he said, “a bus from Ramnagar drops people at Gandh Top and then private vehicles from the other side of the slide pick the passengers to drop them at Basnatgarh.”
He said people are also taking the Udhampur-Latti-Basantgarh route to reach the Sub-Divisional Headquarters.
The XEn, Satish Bhagat, said that clearing the debris from the landslide at Gandh Top is a herculean challenge for the engineering staff as it rains almost every day in the hilly area, thus putting the staff in risk.
He, however, said that two JCB always remain on standby mode to clear the debris “but nature isn’t giving us the time to do that.”
According to BDC Chairman, Basantgarh, Kewal Parihar, recurring landslides have been happening at the Gandh Top area for the past almost three years.
He said, “the first landslide hit the area on September 5, 2020, when 13 houses, mostly belonging to the Gaddi community members, were dislocated. Since then, every time it rains, the road gets closed for months together due to landslides.”
He said that administration only waits for the harsh weather seasons to end to maintain the road.
Parihar said that due to frequent closure of the road, the prices of the essential commodities have been also skyrocketing in Basantgarh and Dudu areas, resulting in problems to the general public.
He said he has been highlighting the matter with the concerned authorities, including the Tehsildar concerned, SDM concerned and DC concerned in Government functions but his requests have been falling on the deaf ears.
A prominent citizen of the area, Daleep Gupta, also said that people of Basantgarh have been paying up to Rs 100 for travelling in a private vehicle up to Gandh Top area and then the genuine fare to travel from Gandh Top to Ramnagar. Otherwise, he said, people would pay Rs 110 for travelling up to Ramangar.
“Moreover, the bus on the Basantgarh-Latti-Udhampur route takes 6 hours to reach Udhampur. Otherwise we would reach Udhampur in 4-5 hours. This extra travel time has been troubling the passengers in reaching on time at their destinations,” he said.
Gupta also said that is very difficult for the attendants to admit the patients on time in the hospitals due to the extra travel time taken by the bus on the other route.
According to him, no alternative road is functional on the Basantgarh-Ramnagar route.
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