At last, road repair work makes it near finish line
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Chauki Chaura (Jammu), March 20
Thanks to some lazy developments both by the state and Centre, the repair work on the 12-km road along Jammu-Rajouri National Highway was carried on for about a decade.

But the Azad-led government has given much importance to this pending work, which is likely to be completed in two months time.

The repair and double-laning of this leftover stretch from Godar in Kalidhar to Chauki Chaura in Akhnoor on Jammu-Rajouri highway (managed by Border Roads Organisation) was going on for the last about a decade on snails pace.

The work of this stretch along the road was reportedly placed on low priority for receiving funds by the previous central government, but after Azad took over the reins and his party leading the coalition government at New Delhi, the funds started to flow.

After the funds reportedly started flowing from the Central government, the repair work of this stretch gathered pace and is likely to be completed within next two months.

Present status of this stretch along the road is that the double-laning has been completed from here to near Kalidhar temple. “We have repaired and double-laned the road from Chauki Chaura to near Kalidhar Temple and even it has been metalled. If things go as per the plan, it is likely to be black topped within a month or two,” a BRO official said.

He further said so far as the remaining stretch is concerned it is being metalled and after that will be black topped by June this year.

“It used to be a nightmarish experience to travel through this stretch. We used to close the windowpanes of the vehicle while traveling through this stretch since dust used to billow into the vehicle. The road posed high risks during rainy season as well due to slippery conditions,” said Farooq Ahmed Dar, resident of Kheora in Rajouri and businessmen who shuttles between Jammu and Rajouri frequently for business related work.

“However, things have changed for better. We are hoping that this repaired double-lane stretch will be black topped soon.”

Senior Congress leader and local MLC Ashok Sharma, who has raised the issue of dilapidated condition of the stretch on several occasions in the legislature, said the completion of the repair work and double-laning of this stretch speaks of the pace at which development activities are going on in the state.

“Previous NDA regime blocked the funds for this project but it is due to the tiresome efforts of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad that our government at the Centre is providing adequate funding for the road,” he said.