Rains aftermath: Uri villages still cut off

Uri, May 2:  Days after rains lashed Kashmir, roads of several villages of Uri sub-division in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district continue to remain closed for vehicular traffic.

Most of these villages fall in higher reaches and along the Line of Control (LoC) of Uri and Boniyar sectors.

The affected villages include Silpathar, Hathlanga, Charunda, Batgran, Gawalta, Garkote, Babagail, Budrali, Choolan-Kalsan, Ghati, and Baaz.

“The road to our village caved in completely at the Lagama area due to the recent rainfall but it has now been opened temporarily. If fresh rains took place, it will cause huge damage to the road again and it will not be motorable anymore,” said Bashir Bhat, a local of Garkote village.

Nadeem Akbar Abbasi, ex-sarpanch of Gawalta near LoC said that the road to their village had been closed for the last few days.

“It has not been opened to date by the PMGSY Department. We are suffering on every front, especially in ferrying the pregnant women to the hospital,” he said.

“Three houses in our village were damaged due to the landslides triggered by the rains and over 20 houses are in danger zone. We request the DC Baramulla and SDM Uri to personally visit our area and assess the damages caused to the locals,” Abbasi said.

“Though the PMGSY Department took up the clearance work, they failed to clear all roads completely. They have left the clearance work mid-way. We are unable to ply our vehicles on roads,” said Tanveer Ahmad, a local of the main town Uri.

“The department lacks men and machinery for the road clearance work,” he said.

Rains have also damaged several water supply schemes in Uri main town with many areas without water supply.

Locals estimated the loss of over Rs 30 crore to around 50 roads of the sub-division Uri in recent rainfall.

Khursheed Ahmad, AEE PMGSY Uri said, “Ninety percent of roads have been thrown open for the traffic and clearance on the remaining ones is going on.”

A senior official from the Uri administration said that their teams were on the job.

“As some roads have suffered major damage, it is taking some time to restore them,” he said.