Srinagar, Sept 15 : Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said the central government has failed to ensure the restoration of the Srinagar–Jammu National Highway (NH-44), which has remained closed for days due to landslides. He stated that if the Centre was unable to reopen the road, the state government should be allowed to take over the task.
Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, Abdullah said the highway comes under the jurisdiction of the central government and agencies working under it. “If they cannot handle it, then let them hand it over to us. We have engineers and staff who can restore the road. If this highway was under my administration, we would have already worked out a solution,” he said.
The Chief Minister said repeated assurances from central authorities about reopening the road had not been fulfilled, which forced him to write to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, and request a meeting. He added that he was willing to take responsibility for restoration if the project was handed over to the J&K government.
Abdullah noted that the highway closure has hit fruit growers in the Valley, who depend on smooth transport of their produce to outside markets. He said that the administration has been receiving repeated requests from growers and fruit mandi representatives over losses caused by delays in transportation.
Abdullah said he has also sought intervention from Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. He urged that a dedicated cargo train facility be established to ease the movement of fruit consignments until the highway becomes fully operational.
According to him, the single train service that was flagged off earlier was not sufficient to meet the demand. He said that only a regular service could address the scale of consignments waiting to be transported. “The train should continue until the highway is fully restored,” Abdullah said.
The Chief Minister added that his government is in touch with railway officials and will pursue the demand until a workable solution is achieved. He said the issue was not limited to fruit growers but also concerned the uninterrupted supply of essential commodities to the valley.(KNS).
