M A I N   N E W S

Uri-Kaman post road opened to ferry relief

Srinagar, November 3
The Uri-Kaman post road that links Srinagar to Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was opened to light vehicles, to ferry relief material across the Line of Control, a senior Army official said today.

The 17.5 km road was cleared and opened a month before schedule, general officer, Commanding-in-chief of the Northern Command Lt Gen Deepak Kapoor said.

The Kaman post has been identified as one of the five points along the LoC that will be opened from November seven to facilitate movement of quake-affected people and relief material.

Gen Kapoor said the task could be done in a month as the clearing operation was started from both ends of the road.

The process was further speeded up as dozers were for the first time in the valley, air-lifted from Uri on one side and Urusa on the other and then assembled on the spot to carry out the work.

Though only light vehicles could ply on it now, the road would be made ready for heavy vehicles in three weeks he added.

Calling the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad strip as the peace road, Gen Kapoor said the road that helped break barriers and brought people on both sides of the LoC closer, suffered the maximum damage due to the landslides between Baramula and Kaman post.

On the magnitude of the damage to the Uri Kaman post road, he said the road had cracks and sunk in at several places due to the massive landslides.

There were landslides between Urusa and Kaman post even after the quake due to the aftershocks, making repair work difficult.

Gen Kapoor said the BRO team led by Chief Engineer Brigadier S.S. Dasaka took up the task of mending the roads although the 7.8 magnitude quake took its toll on the BRO Corps and damaged more than 80 per cent of its accommodation.

The Tangdhar to Tithwal road was the worst hit with as many as 12 landslides washing away nearly one km of the stretch. The road was cleared for traffic on October 23 by the Army engineers, he said.

Gen Kapoor said the opening of the peace road would not only facilitate trans LoC movement but also connect all villages en-route.

With the road opened, material could now be ferried to the relief point being established next to the Kaman post, he said. PTI