By Tauseef Ahmad
BANDIPORA, Aug 12: Residents of Sheikhpora village in the Tulail valley of North Kashmir’s Bandipora district have expressed serious concerns regarding the quality of materials being used in the construction of a college building in their area. The locals claim that substandard materials and a slow pace of work are jeopardizing the project’s integrity and future usability.
Speaking with Kashmir Despatch, residents voiced their frustration over the contractor’s choice to use local sandstones sourced from the Kishanganga River instead of higher-quality materials. “We don’t even use that sand for our house construction because it breaks apart within months,” lamented local resident Bilal Ahmad. He noted that the contractor was specifically instructed to use sand from the Nallah Sindh or purchase it from Srinagar, yet continues to rely on inferior local materials.
Residents claim that during previous inspections, officials acknowledged the use of substandard materials but failed to take any action. “Everyone here is taking advantage of our area’s remoteness,” another local resident expressed. “They can do whatever they want, but they don’t realize how hard we’ve fought for this college. Our children remain uneducated, and now that the government has finally allocated a building for us, the use of inferior materials shatters our hopes for its longevity.”
The sentiment among the locals is that the college building should serve their children, not the interests of the contractor, who will soon depart after completion. “We cannot allow the use of substandard materials in this building,” another resident emphasized.
Further allegations arose regarding the ongoing use of poor-quality materials, as locals noted that only a few vehicles of quality construction materials had been brought in from outside. They claimed these vehicles were parked at the site, ostensibly to show officials during inspections, rather than being utilized for construction.
Residents also suspect that local employees are complicit in this practice, suggesting that they enable the use of substandard materials while accepting kickbacks from the contractor. “The employees are allowing this practice to happen under their supervision,” one local claimed.
In response to the allegations, the junior engineer from the Roads and Buildings (R&B) department in Gurez stated, “The local sand was used for a few days, but after noticing its poor quality, we instructed the contractor to stop using it. Now, the contractor is using sand from Dawar, which is of better quality than the sand from the local stream.”
The residents are appealing to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Deputy Commissioner Bandipora to investigate the matter further and establish a committee to inspect the construction work. “We had issues previously, but those were addressed, and the department has not compromised on quality since then. Construction is happening with quality now,” said the Executive Engineer of the R&B department in Gurez.
Attempts to reach Deputy Commissioner Bandipora for comments were unsuccessful, as he was unavailable for response.
