Batamaloo locals decry inordinate delay in community hall construction

Srinagar: Residents of the Shah Faisalabad area in Batamaloo today decried delay in construction of the community hall in their locality.

A delegation of the Welfare Committee of Shah Faisalabad Batamaloo said that despite the initial deadline of the project ending months back, the work is yet to be completed.

Molvi Habibullah Bhat, president of the welfare committee, said that after a decade of struggle in various departments to construct the community hall in the area,  SMC took up the project last year.

“A nine-month deadline was initially set up, which ended months back. Initially, the work went on at full pace, but then it slowed down. As we contacted the project executing contractors, they said the bills are still lingering, creating the issue. They said that if the liabilities are not cleared, they will be forced to stop the work completely,” Bhat said.

The locals said that their locality is in dire need of a community hall and have been fighting for it since 2008. They said due to space crunch, they cannot hold any community functions.

“We have to book marriage halls in other Srinagar areas as we have no space here. We were expecting this summer our community hall will be completed, but nothing of that sort happened.” said another local.

Kaiser Ahmad, contractor of the project, said that they submitted work-related bills in August and are still waiting for clearance.

“These pending liabilities have slowed down the work, and if this continues, we cannot continue the work. The concerned officials should clear the technical formalities to ensure our liabilities are cleared in time,” he said.

Nisar Ahmad, AEE from SMC, said that the work will pick up and the project will soon be completed.

“We have completed the majority of the work and only final touches are pending. All the bills will also be cleared within the week and work will go on smoothly. The areas will soon have one of the best community halls at their disposal,” he said.