Hajin residents stuck with potholed, water-logged roads

Hajin residents stuck with potholed, water-logged roads

Incomplete, badly executed drainage project main cause of mess

Hajin: Come winter and Hajin town becomes a mess, with frequent water logging and dilapidated condition of roads causing huge inconvenience to the people.
As per the locals, the nearly dysfunctional and incomplete drainage project in Hajin is causing the most trouble. The administration has failed to complete the project since 2008 when it was approved.
The town roads, meanwhile, are turning from “bad to worse” as no repair work has been carried out on them for years. Locals complained that the roads in the town have all developed potholes which cause immense problems to commuters.
Residents say the condition of roads is deteriorating with each passing day. Water-logging can be seen everywhere due to no maintenance, they said.
Sajad Ahmad, a local resident, while talking to Kashmir Reader said that the “drainage work has been completed at Mir Mohalla, Syed Mohallah, Bon Mohalla, Banger Mohalla, Shukur Din Mohalla, Parray Mohalla, Syed Mohalla and part of Khos Mohallah Hajjin. But due to lack of maintenance, the construction carried out so far is crumbling as the authorities have left the construction work exposed without the mandatory filling of GSB (Granular Sub Base) on top, making it vulnerable to imminent collapse due to the frequent movement of vehicles.”
“Irony is, where the drainage has been constructed, the roads have developed big potholes. The roads are uneven now and snow clearance machines are unable to clear snow. If the machines clear the snow, the roads will be damaged further,” Ahmad said.
Abdul Samad, a resident of Hajin, said that the people are desperately hoping for a proper drainage system that will lead to better roads. “Accidents take place due to the deep potholes and it has become difficult even to step out of our houses during rainfall due to water accumulation,” he said.
He further said that the drainage system is useless until the roads are not repaired. “All the inner link roads of Hajin are in a shambles as the administration has failed to maintain them. We were hoping that drainage project will give us some relief but it proved otherwise. The roads have become even more waterlogged and remain submerged during rains,” Samad said.
The locals have urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to personally intervene in the matter to mitigate their sufferings.
Talking to Kashmir Reader, President of Municipal Committee Hajin, Irshad Ahamd Wani said that the drainage project was approved in 2008 at a cost of Rs 11 crore. “However, only Rs 2 crore were released between 2008 and 2018, and later when the elections were held for local bodies, I as the president raised this issue with the then Deputy Commissioner Bandipora, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, who has helped us get those remaining Rs 9 cr sanctioned Since 2018, almost 90 percent work has been done. Hopefully, in the coming 15 days the rest 10 percent will be also covered,” Wani said.
Asked about why the roads where drainage was completed have not been maintained, Wani said that a project under NABARD at a cost of Rs 16.26 crore for the purpose of maintenance of the roads has been approved and the payment has been sanctioned, but bad weather is preventing maintenance work in the area.
Wani said that all the inner links roads would be repaired first and later in June-July the roads will be fully macadamised.

 

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