The highway projects recently announced by Union Minister of Surface Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkar during his visit to Srinagar and Jammu for hassle free road connectivity to different landlocked parts of Kashmir Valley and Jammu divisions shows Central Government’s interest in connecting Kashmir with Jammu the Winter Capital and other parts of the country. The most significant announcement is the construction of a tunnel at Pir Ki Gali on the Mughal Road that will connect Poonch in the Jammu division to Shopian in Kashmir valley . Never forget that the execution of this project could make Mughal road an all-weather road highway and this would consequently ease the travel between summer and winter zones of Jammu & Kashmir. The completion of the Mughal road won’t only ease the travel between summer and winter zones of Jammu & Kashmir but it would also generate several employment opportunities for the jobless youth of both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division. Another big boost to Kashmir’s connectivity with Jammu and other parts of the country would be completion of Work on Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL) project towards the year end as promised by Union Railway Minister during his recent visit to Srinagar and Jammu. Though completion of this railway line to Srinagar will surely reduce the stress on Jammu-Srinagar highway and ease the travel of both the tourists and locals but the bigger challenges still remains the completion of the Ramban-Banihal stretch of Jammu-Srinagar highway.
Though National Highway Authority Of India (NHAI) may take some more time to complete the Ramban –Banihal Stretch of this express highway between Jammu and Srinagar but what matters the most is the fact that the progress of the work on this express highway and announcement of 670-km, four-lane Green Field Expressway from Delhi to Katra by Union Minister of Surface Transport & Highway Nitin Gadkari shows the seriousness of the Government in expanding the network of express highways in Jammu & Kashmir for the purposes of easing the journey of tourists and industrialists to Jammu & Kashmir with focus on increasing economic activities and employability in both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu divisin .
Though this mega highway project could not be completed in given timeline by December end 2021 but Union Minister For Surface Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari during his recent visit to Jammu said that While four more tunnels on Ramban-Banihal stretch of the Jammu-Srinagar Express Highway are likely to be completed by March next year, completion of these tunnels would according to the Government reduce the travel on Jammu –Srinagar highway from 8-9 hours to just around 4 hours. It merits a mention here that in in yesteryears Srinagar-Jammu road was a two way highway but it is now coming up as four lane express highway like other express highways of the country. While the work on Jammu-Srinagar express highway has been expedited only due to unprecedented increase in the allocations for the completion of this express highway from the Central Government, the completion of this highway project would most probably boost the economic activities along this express highway. Though National Highway Authority Of India (NHAI) may take some more time to complete the Ramban –Banihal Stretch of this express highway between Jammu and Srinagar but what matters the most is the fact that the progress of the work on this express highway and announcement of 670-km, four-lane Green Field Expressway from Delhi to Katra by Union Minister of Surface Transport & Highway Nitin Gadkari shows the seriousness of the Government in expanding the network of express highways in Jammu & Kashmir for the purposes of easing the journey of tourists and industrialists to Jammu & Kashmir with focus on increasing economic activities and employability in both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu divisin .
