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Twin troubles dog crucial road link

Staff Reporter

Weather, militancy become major stumbling blocks in Doda's prosperity

THANNALA(DODA): An ambitious plan to provide an alternate link to Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country has seemingly reached a dead end as the work on the critical highway has been affected due to militancy and vagaries of weather. The link becomes crucial for the benefit of thousands of poor people as it is capable of providing them access to the prosperous markets of the country.

The two crucial road networks -- Bhaderwah-Bani-Basolhi and Bhaderwah-Chamba (Chamba district falls in Himachal Pradesh) -- were started 33 years back with much fanfare and were termed crucial for the State's progress. This road would have considerably reduced the traffic flow on the Delhi-Pathankot-Jammu-Srinagar National Highway 1 and was particularly important for the people living in Doda district which is a poverty stricken belt of the State and geographically isolated from rest of the country.

The work on the 60 km Chamba road had almost been completed in the early 1990s and civilian traffic had started plying before its official opening. But the movement of militants in the belt made the security forces block this road as the civilians could have been easy, soft targets. Similarly Bhaderwah-Bani-Basolhi, which is a 166 km route, was scheduled to start a decade back and if the conditions had remained normal it would have been opened now.

Security officials admit it is difficult to ensure the protection of workers in this thick forest belt.

Work on the critical highway was again revived in this belt four years back but before much head way could be achieved, militants intervened and killed three workers at Sangal Dhar area, 25 km from Bhaderwah in July last year, thus leading to stoppage of work in the belt.

Immediately after the incident, additional troops were rushed to provide security to the labour force and the project restarted. But before any headway could be made, the massive snowfall this winter season dealt a major blow to the project as it triggered off landslides at many places and damaged the road surface. Various villages on the highway were completely cut off and people took hours to reach the nearest town. Places like upper Thannala and Killar witnessed a migration of more than 1000 families to the towns.

The real fall out of the delay in the construction of the road is on the people living in the hilly part of the State, which has the largest number of people below the poverty line. Due to the geographical isolation, many hamlets like upper Thannala of Bhaderwah tehsil have poor standards of education. For instance, in this village only seven people are literate

The people remain locked in a vicious circle of poverty as they have no buyers for their produce. Right now the poor Rajmah growers of this belt are entirely dependent on the Punjab-based traders for selling their produce who work as per an arrangement with a cartel. The famous Bhaderwah Rajmah sells for Rs.50 per kg in the cities while local growers here are getting just half the price. The reason is obvious that the locals in the face of high freight charges cannot directly access the markets of Punjab.

If the road is opened, then the more than 1000 km distance will be reduced to less than 300 km enabling the producers to directly reach the trading centres of Punjab. "We will thus be able to earn more and ensure considerable economic progress," says Shariq a local resident. Hundreds of hamlets in Doda district are facing the same predicament and for them the direct link with rest of the country remains the only hope. The district has the highest number of Below Poverty Line families in the State numbering 63,000. According to the 1981 census report the literacy rate in the district was 18.50.

In the Parliamentary elections, in keeping with the local sentiment here, candidates of all political parties without exception promised to work for speedy completion of the roads.

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Twin troubles dog crucial road link

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