Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Anshul Garg on Monday reviewed the progress of the Srinagar Ring Road Phases II and IIA in Ganderbal district and directed concerned departments to expedite execution of the crucial infrastructure project. The high-level review meeting comes amid growing public expectation for the ring road, which is envisioned to decongest Srinagar city and provide a faster bypass corridor for through traffic heading toward north and central Kashmir.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal Jatin Kishore, the project director of the National Highways Authority of India, chief engineers of the Roads and Buildings and Public Health Engineering departments, and other senior officers associated with the project’s execution.
Garg reviewed the status of land acquisition, compensation disbursement, handover of acquired land, removal of trees along the project alignment, demolition of private and government structures, court related references, utility shifting and other issues that have historically slowed the pace of work on the corridor.
He directed officials to compile comprehensive details of acquired land, land handed over to the executing agency and pending court references by Friday, setting a tight timeline for departments to fall in line. He also instructed officers to conduct a joint site inspection on Saturday to assess the ground situation and resolve issues delaying the project, signalling that the administration wants hands on monitoring rather than desk level reviews alone.
On the removal of trees within the project alignment, Garg directed that this be carried out in accordance with prescribed procedures, with transplantation considered wherever feasible and compensatory afforestation ensured in other cases, reflecting an attempt to balance infrastructure needs with environmental safeguards.
For private structures located on state land, he directed the NHAI to follow the executing agency’s compensation norms and resolve the matter promptly. Government structures, he said, should be handed over to the executing agency on an Equal Value Infrastructure basis, a mechanism meant to avoid prolonged disputes over compensation.
Addressing the commissioning of the new PHE pipeline, Garg directed the chief engineer to connect it with the existing water supply network without disrupting essential services, ensuring residents are not affected while the ring road work proceeds.
Reiterating the importance of timely completion of the Srinagar Ring Road project, Garg emphasized close coordination among all stakeholder departments to remove bottlenecks and accelerate the pace of work, a project widely seen as central to Kashmir’s long term urban mobility plans.
