Anantnag ,24 feb: The slow pace of work on 800 metre long railway overbridge on Srinagar-Jammu highway in Anantnag district have added to the woes of commuters.
Thousands passengers are facing considerable hardships due to the delay in the construction of overhead railway pass which is near railway station Anantnag.
It has been more than decade since the work began on 800 metre long Railway overbridge , but there appears to be no end which irks commuters day in and day out.
Strong resentment is brewing among passengers against snail’s pace work of the project.
A daily commuter, Sartaj Ahmad told Rising Kashmir that incomplete work of Railway overbridge leads to 2 to 3 km long traffic jams which irritates passengers on daily basis.
Sartaj said that every single day, dozen times trains are supposed to run from Baramullah-Banihal, whenever they are about to reach near the under construction railway overbridge, commuters have to wait for atleast half an hour till the trains crosses the area.
The under construction railway overbridge has rued the daily commuters as few days back Banihal teenager died after his car met an accident on the same spot.
A local sumo driver, Yasir Ahmad said, “The delay in the completion of this important overbridge is causing immense problems to office-goers, students and patients who couldn’t reach their respective places on time,’’.
He said that it has become nuisance to wait for long hours each day. “The project should have been completed years back as NH-44 is one of the busiest routes, which is witnessing traffic snarls every day due to the half-left work on railway overbridge.”
A local , Abdul Rashid said that the work on the project was started in 2011 , it seems to be progressing at a snail’s pace.
“After missing several deadlines, it has been more than decade now, concerned authorities failed to execute the work on project,’’ He said.
However, Project Incharge Srinagar- Banihal Road , Zeeshan Firdous told Rising Kashmir that Hyderabad-based construction company RAMKY had taken on the project in 2011 and failed to complete on the given deadline.
“RAMKY faced financial difficulties and repeatedly missed several deadlines, the NHAI ultimately opted not to renew their contract, and tendered to seek out efficient contactors who could execute the project on time” he said.
He said that the work continued getting delayed because of deluge 2014, and valley shutdowns.
“In 2020, the project was given to Gawar Construction Limited, another construction company. Since then the work is going on,” he said.
He said that the work got delayed due to pandemic 2020 and attacks on migrants also grounded the work.
Senior Engineer of the concerned department said that few months back Gawar construction has resumed the work on the project and assured to complete the project by May-2023.
