Road construction work underway on Kotranka to Khawas Road in J-K

Road construction work is underway on Kotranka to Khawas Road in Rajouri district, as Unlock 1 comes into effect, which will connect over 20 villages here and benefit the people residing in this hilly area.

"Under Centre Road fund, the Rs 67 crore project has been sanctioned by the government. This will benefit the people living in this hilly area," said Aftab, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) Public Works Department (PWD) R&B Kotranka Sub-Division.

"This is a vast area with less road connectivity but from the past two to four years the government has sanctioned big projects here including CRF projects. This is a very old road but due to funding reasons, the construction work could not take place. We will now commence surfacing work now," he added.

Kotranka to Khawas road is a 30-km stretch, which will connect 23 villages. The road construction work started on war-footing and a large number of labourers, who did not have jobs amid COVID-19 crisis, are engaged in this construction work.

'People used to face problems in the absence of this road. They used to walk and cover large distances. We are thankful to the government, the labourers have also got an opportunity to work and earn," said Yashpal, site in-charge.

"Now that we have got an opportunity, we'll work. We have faced many problems amid lockdown," said a labourer.

( With inputs from ANI )