Land transfer agitation hits road project
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Chattapani-Mughal road (Poonch), July 7
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the former main ally in the Congress-led coalition government, might have levelled allegations of blackmailing against Congress ministers for sabotaging the Mughal road project in case it didn't reportedly clear the Shrine Amarnath Shrine Board land transfer, but on ground it seems that it is the BJP which doesn't want Kashmir to be linked through an alternative road link.

The agitation for the cancellation of the revocation of the land transfer to SASB, which the BJP is leading, has led to the shortage of diesel, affecting the construction work on the road link badly.

If sub-contractors, engaged by the main road constructing agency for the project, Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), are to be believed, the agitation has led to the shortage of diesel and petrol in the area due to no supply from Jammu.

It has reportedly become difficult for the main contractors and the sub-contractors to operate the machinery, they added.

"The agitation has led to the shortage of diesel, petrol and kerosene, creating problems for us," a sub-contractor told TNS.

There are around 15 sub-contractors involved in the construction work on the project and shortage of fuel has affected them all since their machinery is lying idle.

Though senior officers of the project and the HCC remained tight-lipped on the issue, a junior officer said the shortage of fuel has definitely affected the working of machinery, which has severely hit the progress of work of the road project.