Kashmir Valley unrest has affected BRO: Army

The ongoing unrest in the Kashmir Valley has adversely affected road construction and other work of the Border Roads Organization (BRO), the army said on Thursday.

Colonel S.D. Goswami, spokesman of the army's Udhampur-headquartered Northern Command, said: "BRO has suffered a loss of more than three months of working season during summer which is a serious concern.

"While endeavours are being made to execute work whenever and wherever possible, owing to restrictions on movement of vehicles and persons, desired progress could not be made. As a result, many appreciated targets performances will have to be revised.

"Four-laning work on Srinagar-Baramulla-Uri scheduled for completion by July 2016 has been delayed.

"Handing over of Sinathan-Anantnag bypass road to NHAI will be postponed as the pending work on this road will now go beyond the planned deadline of September 2016.

"In addition, many vehicles and equipment have been damaged, non-availability of which will directly affect the work efficiency.

"The most affected locations where delays and loss of work have been seen are Tangdhar, Anantnag, Kupwara and Bandipur Sectors."

It said a majority of the non-local workers had moved out of Jammu and Kashmir looking for livelihood due to continuous disturbance in the state.

"Movement and shifting of the material to forward areas have also hampered the work in Ladakh which will severely impinge on the completion of strategic roads and spending of allotted funds," the army said.

The Kashmir Valley has been battling an unrest that has left nearly 90 people dead in violent protests since the July 8 killing of a militant commander.

Separatists have been enforcing a shutdown amid daily protests that has disrupted normal life in the valley.

--IANS

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