SRINAGAR: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has set December-end as the internal deadline for completing the first phase of the Srinagar Ring Road from Galander in Pulwama district to Narbal, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Anshul Garg said on Saturday.
Garg said an inspection of the 46-km stretch was conducted by the divisional administration along with NHAI, traffic authorities and engineering departments to identify bottlenecks, encumbrances and issues being faced by contractors and work out measures to expedite construction.
“The NHAI team has told me that they have fixed a deadline of December-end to complete the project. We are trying to achieve that and speed up the progress,” Garg told reporters after concluding an extensive tour of the project.
He said local representatives and MLAs had also repeatedly raised the need to operationalise Phase-I at the earliest.
Garg said transmission towers had earlier emerged as an issue affecting the progress of the project, but the district administration had completed the process of compensation and its disbursement.
“As of now, there is no such obstruction, neither in terms of acquisition nor in terms of any utility, due to which the work has been halted,” he said.
He said the Galander-Narbal stretch would improve connectivity between north and south Kashmir by providing a direct route between Pulwama and Narbal.
The road is also expected to provide an alternative route for traffic heading towards Gulmarg and Baramulla, while commuters travelling towards Bandipora and Sonamarg would also be able to use the road, he said.
Garg said Phase-I would subsequently connect with Phase-II, which would extend towards Ganderbal and then towards Pandach, eventually forming a ring around Srinagar.
“Technically, this is an attempt to complete a ring, the first phase of which we are slowly moving towards,” he said.
On connectivity with Srinagar airport and NIFT, Garg said a proposal had been discussed and consultations were being held with the concerned stakeholders.
“We were on the way at that point as well, how we will provide connectivity towards NIFT and the airport,” he said.
He said the administration was also examining a proposal to provide relief to Budgam town through the project. The proposal would be moved internally by NHAI, he said.
Garg said consultations were being held simultaneously with stakeholders, including airport authorities, the Air Force and other concerned agencies, as the proposed connectivity projects involve multiple stakeholders.
He said Saturday’s field inspection was aimed at assessing the ground situation and taking the consultations forward.
The Divisional Commissioner also said the administration had examined possible direct access points along the Ring Road after receiving representations from people.
He said the feasibility team would examine the requests in accordance with National Highway guidelines, including the distance between exits, speed requirements, accident-prone locations, toll positioning, curves and other road-safety considerations.
“There are many such points—how to maintain speed, how to give curves. I think all these things can be done holistically,” he said.
Asked about the timeline for making the road operational, Garg reiterated that NHAI’s internal deadline was the end of December.
He, however, said the actual completion could also depend on weather conditions and availability of manpower.
“Our attempt is to make it available to commuters as soon as possible,” Garg said.(KNS)
