Anantnag: The widening of Sangam-Lassipora road, connecting one of the largest industrial estates in south Kashmir to NH-44, continues to remain in limbo for want of government approval, much to the dismay and inconvenience of industrial units based in Lassipora.
The road is the shortest possible link between Lassipora Industrial Growth Centre (IGC) and NH-44 that runs through Sangam area in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
The industrial unit holders at IGC Lassipora say that the road is vital for the growth of the industrial sector in south Kashmir and at the IGC in particular.
“Every day thousands of vehicles travel between the NH-44 and the IGC, but the narrow road hinders their smooth movement, making the journey time-consuming and troublesome,” an industrial unit holder at IGC told Kashmir Reader.
The unit holders said that 3,800 to 4,000 vehicles ply on this narrow road on daily basis, and they are mostly heavy vehicles carrying either raw material or finished products to and from the IGC.
“The smooth movement of these vehicles is imperative to the overall growth of IGC. This road should have been widened by now. It is hard to believe that the project is yet to get the government nod,” the unit holders said.
On the other hand, the locals living along the Sangam-Lassipora stretch say that the heavy movement of vehicles has become a danger and a nuisance for them.
“The road often gets clogged as there is not much space for movement of these heavy vehicles, causing a traffic mess all the time. Besides, these heavy vehicles travelling on such a narrow road with no footpath is a grave danger to the pedestrians,” the locals that Kashmir Reader talked to said.
Nisar Ahmad, Executive Engineer at the Roads and Buildings Department in Pulwama, said that his department has prepared a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the widening of this vital road.
“We have submitted the DPR to the administrative department and we are awaiting a nod,” Ahmad said. He acknowledged that the road was a “lifeline” for the industrial sector in south Kashmir.

Suhail A Shah