Widening work on Thathri-Kishtwar stretch going on at snail’s pace

Jammu, May 23: Commuting on Thathri to Kishtwar stretch of Batote-Kishtwar national highway has become a nightmare as the widening work is going at snail’s pace and construction agencies don’t have much machinery to speed up the work.
People are kept waiting in heat for hours together on the highway in the name of clearing the debris.
According to reports, for the past three years, the widening work from Khellani in Doda district to Kishtwar stretch of Batote-Kishtwar national highway is under progress and commuters have been facing a tough time to complete their journey.
People have to dodge the hanging stones, frequent landslides and rough surface while travelling on this highway but the construction agency hasn’t sped up the work to make it easy for the commuters. The absence of proper machinery to clear the debris from the ground and clear the traffic without wasting much time of people have added to the misery of the people.
“On Tuesday I was travelling towards Kishtwar to organize a competition in a higher secondary school and when we crossed the Kandni area, our vehicle along with dozens of other vehicles were stopped by the construction agency around 10.45 am. One earth moving machinery with a breaker was breaking stone on the hill side. It took the machine around 20 to 25 minutes to break the stone and after that clearing the debris with the same machine without having proper equipment took around an hour. People were made to wait for more than 90 minutes in scorching heat,” said Aijaz Ahmed, a resident of Doda.
Since the start of the work, widening on Pul Doda to Prem Nagar stretch has been almost completed whereas few patches from Prem Nagar to Thathri are still under construction. From Thathri to Kishtwar only few patches have been completed whereas most of the work is still under construction.
The widening work is going on under the supervision of National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
When contacted Kishtwar based General Manager of NHIDCL, he said he will look into the matter.