Anantnag: Officials and contractors of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) have abandoned the construction of a road here in Qazigund area of Kulgam district after locals started demanding compensation for the land taken from them to widen the road.
Work on this 5-km road from Gund Jafar to Sadoora, in Qazigund, was started in 2018 but remained suspended for long stretches given the situation in Kashmir valley in the last two years.
The road, as per sources, was supposed to be 28 feet in width all along its length. “However, it is only 10 feet wide at some places and 12 feet at others. Very little length of the road fulfills the 28-feet criteria,” a source in the department told Kashmir Reader.
Nevertheless, the source said, the contractors moved to black top the road in June this year, but were stopped midway by the locals. “They demanded compensation for their land, and rightly so,” the source said.
Work on the road has come to a halt ever since, with less than half of it black topped.
Kashmir Reader talked to some locals and farmers in the area who objected to the black topping of the road, saying that once the road was completed they might have to move from pillar to post to get their money.
“I have given 20 marlas of my prime paddy land for the widening of the road and I am yet to receive a single penny in compensation. They will black top it and leave, then I will have to make rounds to different government offices for my own money,” a farmer, Abdul Majeed Khanday, told Kashmir Reader.
Another local, Abdul Rasheed, said that his house was demarcated for demolition for widening of the road and now he was in a limbo.
“Neither have they demolished it nor have I received any compensation. Nobody tells me what to do. Should I prepare to construct a new house or should I wait for the old one to be demolished,” Rasheed said.
Other locals and farmers that Kashmir Reader talked to had similar woes. They maintained that they will not allow the blacktopping unless they receive their compensations.
“Or at least some proof in writing which says the government owes us money,” the farmers said.
Kashmir Reader talked to the Executive Engineer of the PMGSY for Kulgam, Farooq Ahmad Mantoo, who acknowledged that the work has been suspended following demand of compensation from the locals.
“We are working on the issue and hopefully we will be able to get all the details regarding the compensation, so that the locals are satisfied and allow us to work further,” Mantoo said.
Asked why the road was not widened uniformly, Mantoo said that it was difficult to convince many to let go of their land and/or their properties for the widening.
“We needed to demolish walls at some places and the houses at others. The locals are not always cooperative to such proposals,” Mantoo said.

Suhail A Shah