NEELUM VALLEY (Kashmir English): The Neelum Valley Road, an important road that links Muzaffarabad to Patka, has turned into a commuters’ death trap despite being handed a huge amount of state funds from the public exchequer.
Billions of rupees are spent on the maintenance and repair of many highways, including this important road, every year. Yet the money appears to have madeno difference in curing the endemic ailments that afflict the Neelum Valley Road.
Landslides have turned out to be an ever-recurring nightmare on this road, costing dozens of precious lives and maiming hundreds of vehicles.
The situation worsens due to the absence of a proper and permanent solution for stabilizing the landslide-prone zones. Rather than taking initiative to identify and correct these risk-prone zones, the authorities appear to be taking a wait-and-watch policy, waiting for more tragedies to happen before stepping in.
The Neelum Valley Road has great strategic significance as a defenceroad but remains a severe danger to travellers’ safety. It is deceptively attracting billions of rupees for its up gradation with doubtful effective utilisation.
Failure in resolving the problems of landslides and implementing measures to render the road secure not only causes loss of life but also complicates the communication network, leaving commuters and transporters at untold sufferance.
There is an urgent need for the authorities to revisit their priorities and take effective action to rehabilitate and strengthen the Neelum Valley Road.
This will involve putting into practice long-term measures to overcome the risks caused by landslides and providing security for movement on the road.
The commuters’ lives and the transporters‘ safety are the topmost priority, and the authorities are under an imperative obligation to redress these fundamental concerns at once.
