Anantnag: The Khanabal-Bijbehara stretch of the old National Highway has turned into a huge slum, where garbage is dumped in the open by municipal authorities, much to the annoyance of the general public.
This 5 Kilometre stretch has been facing utter neglect on part of the authorities, for more than two years now, since the NH-44 got functional and almost all the traffic has been diverted to that.
This stretch, however, still remains vital given the fact that it is the main link to Anantnag town and then to Pahalgam and/or Kishtwar, through Sinthan Top.
“But you can see how it has been turned into a slum now,” the locals lamented.
More than five clusters of tents have come up along the stretch where non-locals have been staying put in sub-human conditions. “On the face of it these people earn a living by making brooms, but there is an underbelly no one is talking about,” the locals said, adding that these non-locals resort to begging, thievery, and many times drug peddling to earn some quick bucks.
Locals allege that these clusters of non-locals have also become breeding grounds for diseases, given the lack of hygiene and basic amenities in there.
“Nobody is even trying to get them evicted or even shift them to some other place. It is not that the authorities do not know whatever is going on in these ghettos, but they choose to ignore and look the other way for reasons better known to them,” the locals alleged.
As the condition of this old national highway gets worse, the municipalities of Anantnag and of Bijbehara have found an open dumping yard. A simple drive through the highway is enough to locate garbage dumps dotting it, through and through.
People, Kashmir Reader talked to, said that even dead animals are being dumped along this stretch of the old national highway. “And at such times, the stench is so unbearable that you cannot roll down the windows of the vehicle you are traveling in,” the people, who commute the road on a daily basis, told Kashmir Reader.
Kashmir Reader talked to Deputy Commissioner (DC) Anantnag, Basharat Qayoom, who said that he will enquire about the slums from the concerned person.
“As far as garbage dumping is concerned, we have already talked to the municipalities. But there are also some shadow areas which do not fall in the jurisdiction of the local bodies,” the DC said.
He said that for such areas, blocks and Panchayats will be asked to engage actively and formulate plans to make things work in a more proper manner.

Suhail A Shah