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Work slow on Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh flyover

SYED YASIR. Dated: 12/25/2016 11:32:45 PM

SRINAGAR, Dec 25: The work on the prestigious Rs 369-crore Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh Expressway Corridor flyover project is going by a sluggish pace as the entire project was supposed to be completed in March 2017. The ongoing unrest is also a reason for the work on the project coming to a halt for several months.
The project is being executed by Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (JKERA) with Simplex Infra Limited as project contractor.
Work on the project which was started simultaneously from various places and the entire project is slated to be completed by March next year is going at a very slow pace. The agency working on the project said that most of the workers working on the project are outsiders and they have left the valley due to the unrest.
The concerned agency could not motivate most of its workers to return after the security situation improved. “Most of our workers have left valley due to unrest and that is why the work on the project is slow,” said a senior official who is working on the project.
The flyover, on which work began in 2013, is being financed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and is thought to considerably reduce the traffic congestion in Srinagar city centre and provide quick access to International Airport. The flyover is expected to save approximately Rs 20 crores annually once it is completed.
The 2.4-km flyover is expected to reduce the journey time from Jehangir Chowk to Rambagh from 28 minutes to just 2.5 minutes and will go a long way in reducing the traffic congestion in the area.
The project was expected to be completed in three years time. The original deadline for the completion of the flyover was September 2016. Due devastating flood in 2014 which resulted in damage to most of the equipment and fleeing of workforce to their respective States, the deadline has been renewed to March 2017.
The work on the project has been divided into 4 sections – A, B, C and D. Approximately 280 shopkeepers are affected by the project. The effected shopkeepers and businessmen are being rehabilitated at newly constructed shopping complexes at Rambagh, Exhibition ground and in Estates Department building situated nearby.