Srinagar, Sep 15: At the centre of the ongoing highway crisis in Jammu & Kashmir is a 300-metre-long, narrow, and severely uneven stretch constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to facilitate traffic movement after a landslide buried a portion of the road.
According to reports, the diversion was built earlier this month between Tharad and Balli Nallah in Udhmapur district after the existing road was buried under debris from a mountain collapse.
Officials said that this muddy stretch is the primary reason behind the current highway disruption.
“This stretch is so narrow that only one vehicle can pass through at a time. Its surface is so uneven that vehicles struggle to move and often get stuck in the mud,” officials disclosed.
They suggested that stretch requires widening, and its surface should be properly leveled for fast movement of vehicles.
A group of fruit growers from Sopore accused the NHAI of failing to widen the road and level its surface.
“NHAI is responsible for maintaining the road. We have been hearing for the past 15 days that the road would be made fully functional for transporting fruits to various markets across the country, but hundreds of trucks carrying apples remain stranded,” they said.
Officials admitted that traffic movement has been severely hampered by the condition of the stretch. “On a normal day during peak fruit season, around 10000 vehicles, including 1000 apple trucks, ply on the highway. But due to the current road conditions, only 700 to 1000 vehicles are able to pass through. Besides, around 2500 vehicles are being diverted via Mughal Road, resulting in a daily backlog of 6000 vehicles,” they said. (KNO)
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