Poor condition of national highway 144-A on Bhatadhurian-Kalai stretch irks Poonchites; demand prompt action from BRO

Poor condition of national highway 144-A on Bhatadhurian-Kalai stretch irks Poonchites; demand prompt action from BRO

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH: Although the work on the Jammu-Poonch highway was started a few years ago, the stretch from Sunderbani to Rajouri is good to some extent, but the people of Poonch are facing hardships while travelling from Kalai to the Bhatadhurian area.

Locals, while talking to “POONCH TODAY,” alleged that the executing agency BRO has not done satisfactory work because the entire stretch is disturbed and BRO has not made an alternate plan to ensure vehicles don’t face any hardships. It is pertinent to mention here that the Rs 5100 crore project is the most prestigious project of the NDA government for the people of Rajouri and Poonch, which will help reduce the travel time from seven hours to nearly four hours from Jammu to Poonch. The work from Akhnoor to Rajouri was going on fast, but the slow pace of work on the Bhatadhurian-Kalai stretch on the BG-Poonch highway is giving huge inconvenience to the people who used to travel on this stretch. People said that the BRO is not executing the work properly; as a result, it’s the people who are suffering a lot. The other day, a meeting was chaired by DC Poonch in which the status of land acquisition cases of major projects was discussed, especially related to finding out the progress on NH-144A. In the meeting, it was discussed that nearly 40 km of stretch falls in the Poonch district, affecting 17 villages and nearly 250 structures. The DC also stressed upon the executing agency to finish the work sooner than later, but the way the pace of work is going on, it would be difficult for the BRO to finish the work on time. Due to cutting at several places, BRO has not made a provision of temporary blacktopping the stretch, which would help the vehicles to pass through the disturbed stretch easily. Due to the slow pace of work, the people of Poonch are suffering a lot. Question marks have also come on the project report of this prestigious project, as many prominent people of Rajouri said that the national highway passes through the main bridge of the Rajouri town and nearly 7 km of stretch is highly disturbed in the city area due to the number of potholes and traffic overload. They said that it would have been better had the main highway been designed in other ways on the pattern of the newly constructed flyover bridge in Ramban town, making it easy for everybody to pass through the highly dense area easily. At many places on the Kalai to Nowshera stretch, there are a number of curves that are still a part of this project, as no efforts were made to cut short these curves during the designing stage of the project. The area from Bhatadhurian to Surankote bye pass is full of curves, and it also raised a big question mark on the project authorities for not opting for a straight and proper design. However, due to the slow pace of work, it’s the common man who is suffering a lot and demanded prompt action from the BRO to complete the work on time in addition to making alternate arrangements of temporary blacktopping the stretch for easy flow of traffic. This prestigious project is considered to be the backbone for Poonch and Rajouri districts as it will boost development in the border region and, on the one hand, strengthen the security-related measures for the Army, Police, and paramilitary forces. The people of Poonch district are expecting a professional response from the BRO in completing the project sooner than later because the people are facing huge inconvenience while travelling.