Dilapidated road irks Noor Bagh residents

Srinagar, Feb 8: Dilapidated road at Habba Khatoon Colony of Noor Bagh is causing immense inconvenience to locals.

The locals said that the newly established colony has been neglected for the past several years, which is causing inconvenience to them.

They said that amid precipitation for the past few weeks, they are unable to move out as the road has turned into a cesspool.

“This road is not fit for use by pedestrians, let alone vehicles. Due to the lack of black-topping, there are huge potholes. In winter, we have to walk around wearing long rubber shoes,” Ishfaq Ahmad, a local, said.

“Our children and elderly are unable to move out. We have patients at our homes, and it gets hard to take out the vehicles amid potholes and waterlogging. In case of any medical emergency or any other untoward incident, we will face immense problems” said another local.

The locals said that following waterlogging, water seeps into houses, and they fear that it will damage foundations.

“Most of the houses here are newly built, and the water from the road seeps into foundations. During rain and snow, the whole area turns into a cesspool and scores of households are suffering. We are making minor repairs on our own, and we appeal to authorities to ensure macadamisation of the road,” the locals said.

The aggrieved locals said that they have been reaching out to officials, but to no avail. An official from SMC’s road division said that during a recent meeting with higher authorities, they were asked to keep all such roads in the upcoming plan.

“As the new phase of macadamisation will start, we will ensure that such roads are not left out. Let the weather get better. We have many such projects in the pipeline, and we will ensure that these roads are fixed,” the official said.