The latest report presented by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has revealed that Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has seen a remarkable surge in investments for the construction and maintenance of National Highways over the past five years. The figures demonstrate a continued commitment from the central government to enhance infrastructure in the region, with a cumulative expenditure of over Rs 30,000 crore allocated for road development. From 2019 to 2024, the region has witnessed substantial year-on-year funding. In 2019-20, Rs 2,256 crore was allocated, which remained consistent with the expenditure of the same amount. This marked the beginning of a period of sustained investment. The utilization of the funds is quite visible on the ground as Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a massive transformation as far as the National Highways are concerned, but what remains unchanged in the roads within the City areas as almost all the interior roads have been neglected by the authorities so far, thereby leaving the local commuters to the wall. The government had also released the funds for the construction of interior roads in City areas, but unfortunately the concerned Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) didn’t start the macadamization process for the interior roads, thereby pushing the commuters to the wall. One fails to understand why the City areas have been neglected so far while there is an immediate need to resolve the long-pending issue of macadamization in the interior areas of Srinagar for which the government needs to take a call immediately so that the people here could heave a sigh of relief.
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