Restoring highway traffic within 24 hours Govt’s priority: CM Omar

By: Raja Syed Rather

Srinagar: Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah Tuesday said that the government will try hard to open the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway within 24 hours.

Speaking to the reporters, Omar said, “Our first priority was to protect the innocent lives stuck in the landslides and we evacuated them swiftly.”

“Now our priority would be to reconnect the National Highway because until we reconnect and reconstruct the road, it is not possible for us to send the material to Ramban,” he said.

Omar further said, “Officials have assured me that they will restore single traffic towards the highway.”

He said, “For the three consecutive days, the administration visited the Ramban. On the first day, the Deputy Chief Minister and the concerned MLA visited Ramban on the spot on the very first day.”

“On the second day, I reached the spot to ensure that no life was harmed because of the massive landslides,” he said.

The CM further said, “I believe that any work that can be done at a rapid pace is more beneficial.”

“As of now, we are trying to provide temporary relief to the victims and we will ensure that they will get the compensation through red cross at earliest,” Omar said.

About the compensation, Omar added, “We will assess the damage to the properties of the victims and then we will accordingly provide them compensation through NDRF and SDRF norms.”

“We will request the Government of India (GoI) to declare the area as disaster zone and I am sure that they will help the victims for sure,” he said—(KNO)