Peerzada Masarat Shah
Udhampur, Aug 7 (BuzzBytes): Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday travelled by road from Jammu to Srinagar via National Highway-44 to personally assess the condition of the highway and review the restoration works being carried out following the recent spell of adverse weather that triggered landslides and disrupted traffic at several locations.
During the journey, the Chief Minister was briefed by officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the executing agencies on the progress of repair, restoration and stabilisation works being undertaken along the affected stretches of the highway. He was accompanied by Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Dheeraj Gupta, senior NHAI officials, Traffic Police officers and other concerned officers.
Emphasising that the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is the lifeline of Jammu and Kashmir, the Chief Minister directed the concerned agencies to expedite restoration works and take all necessary measures to ensure smooth, safe and uninterrupted movement of traffic. He laid particular emphasis on facilitating the movement of trucks carrying fruit and other agricultural produce, noting that any prolonged disruption on the highway adversely impacts growers, traders and the overall economy.
Speaking to reporters during the visit, Abdullah said Jammu and Kashmir currently has no alternative route connecting it to the rest of the country, and that the administration and concerned departments were making continuous efforts to keep traffic flowing on the highway despite the bad weather. He said he had travelled the Rajouri-Poonch route a day earlier, particularly the stretch from Peer Ki Gali to Bafliaz, and that its condition was worse than the national highway.
“I travelled the Rajouri-Poonch route day before yesterday, especially between Peer Ki Gali and Bafliaz. The condition of that stretch is far worse than here,” he said. The Chief Minister said only a limited portion of the national highway had been affected by the recent rains, and that the concerned agencies were working to restore and repair the road so that traffic was not disrupted for long under adverse weather conditions.
He said the government was fully conscious of the importance of the ongoing fruit season, as growers and orchardists needed their produce to reach markets across the country in time to prevent spoilage. Fruit-laden trucks and other vehicles were being allowed to pass on a priority basis, he said, adding that vehicles carrying petroleum products from Jammu were also being given priority to prevent shortages of fuel and other essential commodities in the Kashmir Valley.
“The government’s objective is to maintain the supply chain of essential goods, protect the fruit industry from losses and ensure uninterrupted movement of traffic on the highway,” Abdullah said. He added that he had also held an important meeting with National Highways Authority of India officials in Udhampur, where the current condition of the highway, the damage caused by rains and the steps being taken for its restoration were discussed in detail.
He said the government was continuously monitoring the situation and had directed the concerned authorities to speed up repair and restoration works to keep the vital land link between Jammu and Kashmir intact. Officials briefed the Chief Minister in detail on the affected locations, ongoing repair works and traffic management arrangements during the visit.
The Chief Minister’s visit comes in the wake of the recent spell of heavy rainfall that triggered landslides, shooting stones and mudslides at multiple locations along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, leading to repeated closures of the arterial road over the past several days—(BuzzBytes)
