Anantnag, Mar 1: A shopping complex in the main town of Anantnag is under construction for the last eighteen years, with shopkeepers urging the authorities to complete the work at the earliest.

According to local shopkeepers, the Urban Local Bodies took over the construction of the shopping complex in 2005 and stopped the work in 2009 saying that funds for the project were stopped. 

“The work on the project was later resumed in 2015 but abandoned again a few years ago,” Reyaz Ahmad, a shopkeeper, told Rising Kashmir. 

He said the district administration should look into the matter and execute the remaining work on the complex.

Another shopkeeper Aadil Ahmad said the concerned authorities should expedite the process of construction and allotment of shops to people.

The shopkeepers said the building has become a safe haven for drug addicts. 

Talking to Rising Kashmir, CEO, Municipal Council Anantnag, Showkat Ahmad said, “Initially, the project was handed over to Urban Local Bodies, and a few years back it was transferred to the R&B Department which has already taken over the project from the engineering wing of the ULB. The work remains halted due to some technical issues.” 

When contacted, the Technical Officer R&B Division Khanabal Aarif Ahmad said, “The project was executed by Urban Local Bodies till 2020. In 2014, the project was approved under the ‘languishing program’ and the project cost was revised to Rs 19.28 crore from the earlier Rs 8.25 crore. In 2020, all schemes and projects of Urban Local Bodies were transferred to R&B Department for execution. This project was also transferred to R&B Division Khanabal.”

The officer said that in 2020, the technical sanction, online billing, administration accord, etc became compulsory for every project to be executed. “When this project was conceived, the technical sanction-like formalities were not mandatory,” he said, adding that almost 90 percent of the work on the construction has been done by Urban Local Bodies and the pending work will not take much time to complete if technical sanction issues will be resolved.

“Hopefully, the work on the ground will start within months,” he added.