AIIMS Awantipora faces deadline uncertainty

Awantipora, July 14: A wide and recently macadamised road branching off from the old Srinagar-Jammu National Highway in south Kashmir’s Awantipora town leads to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Awantipora. The road from almost halfway is yet to be macadamised.

However, an aggregate base course is laid on it.

As the road ends, one can see a few pillars erected to construct the main gate to the under-construction institution.

Beyond them, multi-storied buildings rise where many workers are engaged in construction activities.

Sprawling over 221 acres, the big-ticket project was approved in 2019 with an estimated cost of Rs 1828 crore.

Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd (NCC) has been tasked with constructing this top-tier institution. The government had set a January 2025 deadline for the completion of the project.

Although the construction work is going on at full throttle, the project is likely to miss the deadline.

According to an official, who declined to be quoted by his name, over 50 to 55 percent of the total work had been completed.

He said that more than 55 structures were to be constructed.

“Almost all the structures have been raised, a significant portion of the work remains pending,” he said.

Last December, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin in a written reply to a question said that 44 percent of the work had been completed since 2019.

Following the recent directions from the Health Ministry, the construction company has intensified its efforts to expedite the work.

“More than 75 percent of work on four academic blocks, several hospital blocks and hostel blocks have been completed,” the official said.

He said that these buildings would be handed over by September this year.

However, the official expressed scepticism about meeting the January 2025 deadline.

According to the official, the harsh weather conditions, absence of local workforce and dispute over the land, have hindered the progress of the project.

“The migrant labourers move back to their native places in November and it turns out to be an uphill task to find the labourers,” he said.

The official said that harsh winter conditions and a tense situation following the abrogation of Article 370 also contributed to the delays.

“The widening of the road leading to the site was also a crucial issue, but it was resolved in October 2020 as the administration tore down dozens of structures along the road,” said the official.

He said that all the bottlenecks had been cleared now and the construction work was going on in full swing.