In yet another instance of the alleged official apathy, ‘Babul Iqbal’, the city entry gate, in Srinagar is awaiting its completion for past six years.In 2011, the then administration took an initiative to construct city entry gate likely to be named as Babul Iqbal and had sanctioned Rs 1.20 crore for its constriction.However, six years passed since the initiative was taken; the authorities have miserably failed to complete the project on time.Babul Iqbal, which is currently being constructed at Baba Demb was supposed to be completed in one year.Nonetheless, it has missed multiple deadlines so far while the authorities seem reluctant to complete its construction since last six years.The project involves major departments including Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Lakes and Waterways Development Authorities (LAWDA), Tourism and Roads and Building (R&B) department.Once completed, the gate will serve as an entry point to the 2000 year old ‘Shehr-e-Khaas’ and will be the welcoming remark for the visiting tourists.
Ali Muhammad, a local resident of the area told KNS that despite sanctioning 1.20 crore over its construction, the authorities seems reluctant to complete the project, adding, “The gate has an array of residential colonies on one side and a swamp like lagoon on the other side. Thus, the location of the gate is not correct for its construction and is creating chaos among the vehicular movement.”He said that now, if the government started working on the project at this place then it should stop dillydallying in completing it.Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Commissioner, Shafat Khan told KNS that the work is currently ongoing. “There were several plans over the project, which caused delay in completing the gate,” he said.He said that the work has now been started again and hopefully the gate will be completed at earliest. The Tourism officials said that they can only come into picture when the gate will be constructed.“We had requested all the departments to complete it at earliest,” the Tourism officials said. (KNS)