NH team to re-assess damage on Pulwama road
Rohan Dua, Aarti Tikoo Singh | TNN | Feb 17, 2019, 23:20 ISTPULWAMA: The terror strike in Pulwama has left a 7-metre deep crack in the road embankment and a crater at the spot of the attack on National Highway 44. This has called for a reassessment of the entire 24-kilometer stretch between Pulwama and Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir.
A National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) security team will soon visit and assess the damage on the Awantipora-Lethpora road.
The staff of a private company believe they may have to dig anywhere between 100 meters and 8 km of the stretch wherever the damage took place.
“The crack on the retaining wall is up to seven metres. We may have to excavate the spot of the blast or more portions after assessment,” said a senior official of RAMK, the group managing the road network in the Kashmir valley.
Officials said due to a large population of locals staying right next to the stretch that has saffron fields on one side and shops and graveyards on the other, the concrete grade used for the wall here is M30 which is a standard mix with a moderate to high compressive strength.
“The crack certainly shows the intensity of the explosion,” said an official.
Officials said that samples of bitumen used in the road would also be preserved and examined by National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths to find traces of explosives. The security agencies in Srinagar are divided about their opinion on the explosives and not sure whether it was RDX or ammonium nitrate or PETN or a combination of these.
Officials said that glasses and window panes in several buildings spattered upto 5 kilometres on either side in Pampore, Lethpora and Awantipora.
The NH 44 is the longest running network of road in India, connecting Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Fifty-three other national highways are connected to this road.
A National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) security team will soon visit and assess the damage on the Awantipora-Lethpora road.
The staff of a private company believe they may have to dig anywhere between 100 meters and 8 km of the stretch wherever the damage took place.
“The crack on the retaining wall is up to seven metres. We may have to excavate the spot of the blast or more portions after assessment,” said a senior official of RAMK, the group managing the road network in the Kashmir valley.
Officials said due to a large population of locals staying right next to the stretch that has saffron fields on one side and shops and graveyards on the other, the concrete grade used for the wall here is M30 which is a standard mix with a moderate to high compressive strength.
“The crack certainly shows the intensity of the explosion,” said an official.
Officials said that samples of bitumen used in the road would also be preserved and examined by National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths to find traces of explosives. The security agencies in Srinagar are divided about their opinion on the explosives and not sure whether it was RDX or ammonium nitrate or PETN or a combination of these.
Officials said that glasses and window panes in several buildings spattered upto 5 kilometres on either side in Pampore, Lethpora and Awantipora.
The NH 44 is the longest running network of road in India, connecting Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Fifty-three other national highways are connected to this road.
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