Suhail Dar
In June 2017, the Ministry of Railways allotted five new stations, however even after four years having passed off, the work on the stations is complete.
The new stations were allotted at Hillar, Sangdan in Kulgam, Raazwan in Budgam, Ratnipora in Pulwama, and Naidgam after local requests. The officials have blamed COVID 19 for the delay.
Speaking to The Kashmiriyat, the locals expressed anguish over the slow pace of the work and said that the delay in the completion of the work has led to hopelessness among the locals.
“Looking at the pace of the ongoing work, it looks like that the stations will not be completed even in the next decade. People are living through a tough time as we have to travel several kilometers to get vehicles. The Government at that time granted us the stations, but since 2019, there has been little progress on the work,” a local told The Kashmiriyat.
Locals alleged the unwillingness on the part of the contractor to finish the project is due to a lack of funds from the Railway authority.
At the Ratnipora station in Pulwama work on a small ticket office and security counter has been going on for the past five years.
Saqib Ahmed, the Chief Area Manager Srinagar, blamed the global pandemic COVID 19 for the delay.“The platforms have been constructed at all the stations. All of these projects are nearing completion,” he told.