SRINAGAR: In view of the massive damage caused to the Uri-Muzaffarabad road, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has sought more time for making it motorable. The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service will continue to be suspended till then. Even as the stretch from Uri to Lalpul has been thrown open, the real problem has surfaced from Lalpul to Kaman Post badly hit by the landslips.

BRO Director General Lt. Gen. K.S. Rao who visited the area on Tuesday said the road is covered by huge boulders after the October 8 earthquake. "The two and a half km stretch from Ursoo to the Kaman Post is blocked at several points," he told reporters.

He said that only after a week or 10 days would it be possible to make a realistic assessment on when traffic would be allowed on the road. It was difficult for the workers to clear the area quickly, as the landslips triggered by the earthquake were covering entire formations. "There are fears of more landslips on the dangerous stretch and therefore our men have to move cautiously." Even pedestrian movement on the adjoining foothill triggers huge landslips.

The Director-General said the BRO workers had to blast some of the huge boulders to clear the way. Since the area is still inaccessible, they had to dismantle the bulldozer before ferrying it to the site on a chopper. "The bulldozer after being reassembled was pressed into service," he said. The Kaman Bridge, now named Aman Setu, has also suffered damage.

Lt. Gen. Rao gave away relief to family members of labourers killed along the Srinagar-Kaman Bridge strip when the earthquake struck. Fiftyeight BRO men were buried alive under a huge landslip.

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