Road construction meets dead end; PWD stops work citing poor gradient

Ajay Ramola

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Tribune News Service

Uttarkashi, June 23

Residents of the Dunda and Chinyali Saud region are agitated at the delay in the construction of the Hitanu-Balsi road in Uttarkashi district. Angry residents led by Pawan Nautiyal, Uttarkashi district president of the Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha (BJYM), along with his supporters created a ruckus at the Public Works Department (PWD) office in Uttarkashi yesterday. Nautiyal asked senior PWD officials to begin the work on the road immediately or they would launch an agitation against the department.

The BJYM activists said the work on the Hitanu-Balsi road that was started in 2011 had been completed only up to B.Ed College near Hitanu. The PWD under political pressure had discontinued the cutting work for the road, causing inconvenience to villagers, they alleged.

They said residents of Asthal, Gulargaon, Ranadi and other villages were suffering in the absence of a road and were forced to carry ill persons on their shoulders or bath tubs. Schoolchildren were the major sufferers, as they had to walk several kilometres to reach their schools, which becomes difficult during the monsoon.

Meanwhile, PWD officials said there was no political pressure on them regarding the road and they had stopped the work, as it was not feasible to construct the road from the present spot in the absence of appropriate gradient. They added they had explained the situation to the BJYM activists.

The protesters said besides the Hitanu-Balsi road, there were several other roads, namely the Dunda to Jakhari, Fold, Dhanari, Musadgaon, Chinyali Saud to Digthaul, and Rauntal to Adni roads, which the PWD was still to construct though surveys had been done for them.

Meanwhile, the police have on the PWD complaint registered a case against the BJYM activists. Senior BJP leaders said they were not aware of the incident.