Abdullah undertakes road trip to inspect Jammu-Srinagar highway restoration work

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday travelled from Srinagar to Jammu by road to inspect the ongoing restoration work along the strategic JammuSrinagar national highwayThe vital 250kilometre highway which is the lone allweather road that connects Kashmir to the rest of the country remained closed for the sixth consecutive day due to multiple landslides and road sinking caused by torrential rains early this weekThe chief minister said concerted efforts are being made to ensure smooth supply of essential commodities to the ValleyAbdullah who on Saturday chaired a highlevel review meeting on the restoration of major roads especially the JammuSrinagar highway undertook the journey to get a firsthand account of the progress of the work an official saidHe will brief about the situation to Home Minister Amit Shah who is scheduled to arrive in Jammu on Sunday evening to assess the flood situationAbdullah said efforts are being made to throw the highway open and to facilitate supply of essential commodities to Kashmir ValleyInspecting a damaged portion of the highway at Tharad in Udhampur the chief minister said The national highway especially in Udhampur district suffered immense damage due to heavy rains We never thought such a situation would arise in Udhampur Earlier such things used to happen in Ramban and other places But this time there was intense downpour in UdhampurAsked about the damage to houses he said a large number of them has either been destroyed completely or rendered uninhabitableI have asked the deputy commissioner to look into all such cases where people have lost their homes and whether they need to be rehabilitated somewhere else he said adding that whatever is required will be done as the safe evacuation and rehabilitation of the calamityhit people is our responsibilityEarlier the chief minister inspected a damaged portion of the highway at Maroog and said I was told by officials from the National Highways Authority of India and the district administration that there is an alternative road in Maroog They are working on this route to enable twoway traffic he saidAbdullah said he was told that full restoration of the SrinagarJammu highway may take 20 to 25 days but twoway traffic could be made possible on the alternative route shortlyUnlike before the most problematic area this time is not the RambanBanihal stretch but is in Udhampur sector he said Until repair work in Udhampur is complete normal traffic movement cannot resume he addedAbdullah said most of the internal roads have been thrown open and work is progressing rapidly on three other routes that remain closedCommenting on the cloudburst in Rajgarh tehsil of Ramban on Saturday which claimed four lives and left one person missing the chief minister said he has already ordered ex gratia relief for the victims familiesThe local MLA briefed me about the incident The deputy commissioner and senior superintendent of police were on ground and disbursed immediate relief under Red Cross norms We will take all necessary steps to rehabilitate the victims he assuredAbdullah added that those affected by the cloudburst in Ramban a few months ago had similarly received assistance under State Disaster Response Fund and Red Cross normsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever