Budgam: The people in several areas of district Budgam are facing immense hardships due to the dilapidated condition of Budgam-Bemina road, that is dotted with potholes and remains inundated during rainfalls.
Residents of Khomeini Chowk, Bemina, Garipora, Dooru, Sebdan, Reshipora, Mirgund and Budgam said that due to the incessant rainfalls it has become very difficult for them to walk or drive on the Budgam-Bemina road.
They said that the road has developed dangerous potholes, causing inconvenience to the commuters and locals alike.
Pointing towards the damaged road in Bemina, a local told Kashmir Images: “Even far off roads are in better conditions whileas a township in Kashmir has the worst road connectivity.”
“We are facing immense problems while commuting from Sebdan to Bemina,” said the local resident.
The locals told Kashmir Images that incessant rainfall has added to the woes of the commuters. “Everywhere, there is muddy water on the road, our commuting has became very difficult,” said a commuter, Aashiq Hussain.
“The condition of road has gone bad to worse. A simple drizzle turns the road into a cesspool”, Hussain added.
Interestingly, the 8 Km Budgam-Bemina road is the shortest route to major city hospitals in Srrinagar, but the dilapidating condition of road has forced the people here to bypass this route.
Officials in the District Hospital Budgam said: “We usually refrain from ferrying patients to Srinagar via Bemina, because the potholed road may prove dangerous for them.”
Holding Budgam administration responsible for the present condition of road, residents of Bemina said that the lackadaisical approach of the authorities can be gauged by the fact that the road is in shambles from many years now, and the officials have done nothing in this regard so far.
Mocking at the Budgam authorities, a local, Shabir Ali said: “Government should make fish farms on the road.”
It is pertinent to mention that in order to highlight the issue, residents of Reshipora had planted rice sapling on the Mirgund-Reshipora road in 2016 and thereby prompting the administration to macadamize few Kms of the road.
The road near Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department and Police Station Budgam has also developed potholes.
While criticizing the R&B department for not being able to fill the potholes near its own office, the locals said that we cannot expect the department to do it somewhere else.
When contacted, Executive Engineer R&B Budgam, Kachoo Mehmood Ali said: “We can’t fill the potholes during rainy days.”
“Once the weather improves we would start the work on the road,” he added.
