Many development projects miss deadlines in Kashmir

Srinagar: The development in Kashmir is a story of missing deadlines and work in progress. Many projects are under construction for the last so many years, with extensions issued to them year after year - reflecting the lack of capability of successive state governments to execute mega projects.

The governments and the executing agencies blame the situation in the valley or weather conditions for not meeting deadlines - taking refuge in excuses -- which often leads to an escalation in the project costs.

Kashmir valley's longest flyover from Jehangir Chowk to Rambagh here is one such example.

Announced in 2009, the construction on the flyover, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at an estimated cost of Rs 359 crore, began in 2013, but the project is far from completion even after missing several deadlines.

The latest was December 31, which was set by the government for the completion of phase one of the flyover -- from Tulsi Bagh to Barzulla Bridge.

Then last year, the Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (JKERA), which is executing the project, had said it would be thrown open for traffic by mid-February 2018.

However, because black-topping of the stretch could not be undertaken in winter months, the agency has now pushed further the opening of the phase one of the flyover to May.

"The first phase is complete structurally. Only black- topping remains which cannot be taken in the winter months. We hope that in the last week of April or in the middle of May, if we have the right temperature needed for black-topping, then we will open it in May," JKERA director Satish Razdan said.

Razdan said many factors were responsible for missing the December 31 deadline.