Heavy quarry traffic cause of road damage in Baramulla’s Drangbal: Report

Baramulla, Jan 20: The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) department in Baramulla has attributed the damage to a recently macadamised road in the Drangbal area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district to the continuous movement of heavily overloaded vehicles ferrying construction material from nearby quarry sites.

The PMGSY department had undertaken the macadamisation of the Azad Gunj–Drangbal road, a stretch of approximately six kilometres, following persistent public demand and repeated protests over the poor condition of the road last year. However, within just one year of its execution, portion of the road in the Drangbal area developed damage, triggering sharp criticism from local residents.

Taking serious note of the road damage, MLA Baramulla, Javed Hassan Beig, directed PMGSY officials to immediately repair the damaged sections and sought report on the causes of the damage occurring so soon after its completion.

In an official compliance report submitted to the MLA Baramulla, the Executive Engineer, PMGSY Division Baramulla, stated that the damaged Bituminous (BT) surface of the road, “Restoration of road L053 general road T01 from KM 18th to Khadinyar (JK03-205)”, has been rectified as directed. The compliance report highlighted a major structural concern affecting the road’s durability.

As per the report submitted by the executive engineer, PMGSY Baramulla, as per the PMGSY core network programme, the road falls under the Village Road (VR) category and has been designed for low-volume traffic with a maximum permissible load of 8.75 tonnes.

“Contrary to this design specification, vehicles carrying loads of up to 25 tonnes, nearly three times the intended capacity, are frequently plying on the road due to the presence of multiple quarry sites in the area, “ reads the report. “This excessive loading is far beyond the designed carrying capacity of the pavement and is consequently causing damage to the road surface,” the report states, highlighting clearly overloaded quarry traffic as the primary cause of road deterioration. The report, issued in response to the MLA’s communication dated January 13, 2026, assured that any future damage observed on the road would also be addressed as and when required. The Executive Engineer informed that the executing agency has been strictly directed to rectify all damaged portions and that payments for the affected stretches have been withheld until satisfactory repairs are ensured. The road is currently under the Defect Liability Period (DLP), making the contractor responsible for carrying out all necessary repairs during this period.