Srinagar, Sep 15 (KNO): Amid growing outrage over the stranding of apple-laden trucks on the Srinagar-Jammu highway, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said that the Union Government should hand over the highway to the J&K government if it cannot maintain it.
Speaking to reporters, as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Omar said the Government of India should hand over the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway to the J&K government if it cannot restore it.
“Had the highway been under my control, I would have opened it. This highway falls under the jurisdiction of the Government of India. If they cannot maintain it, they should hand it over to us. I will deploy a team of engineers who are currently available here,” Omar said.
The Chief Minister stated that the Central Government has failed to restore the road. “Enough is enough. We have been patient because they kept assuring us daily that restoration work would be done, but it hasn’t happened,” he said.
He added that he will take up the matter of highway restoration with Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari.
“I will speak today with Union Highways Minister Gadkari Sahab and request that the highway be handed over to us and restored for truck movement,” he said.
The CM also urged the Railway Minister to run train services regularly to ferry fruits to various markets across the country.
“I would request the Railway Minister that one train is not sufficient. We are thankful to you for starting the train service, but it should be operated on a regular basis so that fruit growers have the option to transport apples either by train or by road,” he said—(KNO)