Days after CM inaugurated phase I, unpaid contractors halt work on remaining stretch of city flyover

Srinagar, May 15: The work on the remaining stretch of Ram Bagh-Jehangir Chowk flyover has come to a halt, as the contractors have gone on a 3-day strike on account of non-payment of wages.
The contractors said that they have not been paid their dues for the last five months.
They said that they were assured by the divisional administration that their payments will be released after the inauguration of the stretch from Barzulla to TulsiBagh.
“The divisional commissioner had assured us that he would sort our issue after the inauguration. We were supposed to get our payment by May but we have not received any payment so far,” Sajad Ahmad, a contractor said on Tuesday.
The contractors said that they have been suffering because of the issues between the client and the construction company.
“There is some issue between the two. There is nobody here from Simplex Infrastructure (SI), the company which has been constructing the flyover. Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) is the client, we approached them but they said that they have paid the money to Simplex infrastructure. There is nobody here from Simplex Infrastructure (SI) to address our concern,” said Aijaz Ahmad, another contractor.
The contractors said that if their payment was not released within three days, they would block the road.
“Any eventuality arising out of our protests will directly come on to the government. We don’t want to hit the streets, we want peaceful resolution,” said Sajad, another contractor.
The first phase of the flyover, stretching from Barzulla to Amar Singh college was inaugurated by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday.
The second phase, longest in Kashmir spanning a total length of 1.64 kilometres, is expected to be completed by the end of this year.