Watch: 'Where is the huge development package we were promised?' asks Kashmir's Bandipora district
Despite the allocation of Rs 44,800 crore for roads in the state, it is impossible to drive here.
Out of a total of Rs 80,000 crore announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 7, 2015, Rs 2,000 crore was to be utilised to rehabilitate victims of flood, Rs 1,200 crore to reconstruct damaged houses, and Rs 800 crores for traders affected by floods. Around Rs 44,800 crore was reserved for the construction of roads alone.
More than a year later, the funds from this package do not seem to have made any difference. The video above Video Volunteers revisits an area in Central Kashmir’s Bandipora district, where a road has become so riddled with potholes that it is difficult to walk on it, leave alone drive safely.
“You can see for yourself that this road isn’t good enough to walk on,” says Nazir Ahmad, a local of Bandipora district. “This road isn’t fit for use at all actually. Now most cars in the area have stopped using this road.”
More recently, the district was in the news because many villages in the area were affected by blackouts and power cuts. Greater Kashmir reported that the villages were given only three or four hours of electricity each day. The Chief Engineer’s solution to the problem was that locals should use power “more intelligently”.
“If people cooperate to use the power intelligently the department assures to provide better supply of the electricity,” she said.