Jammu: As Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced the construction of various road corridors in Jammu and Kashmir, this will set a new milestone in the road network across the region.
The first corridor, the Srinagar Jammu National Highway (NH-44) is nearing completion and within a year or so the distance between the two capital cities of Jammu and Kashmir will be reduced to four hours. However, the other corridors will be the game changers in the history of Jammu and Kashmir’s road connectivity.
So far, there has been only one all-weather connectivity route between the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, but once all the corridors are completed, there will be three different all-weather road connections between the Jammu region and the Kashmir valley.
During the inauguration of the Z-Morh Tunnel at Sonamarg yesterday, Gadkari announced that apart from NH-44, which is nearing completion, a 202-km-long Chenani-Sudhmahadev-Doda-Kishtwar-Anantnag corridor will be constructed at a cost of Rs 14,000 crore. This corridor will be a two-lane road from Chenani in Udhampur district to the Kokernag area of Anantnag district in south Kashmir and will have five tunnels.
Two of these tunnels – a 5-km-long tunnel and a two-km-long tunnel – will be constructed between Sudhmahadev in Udhampur district and the Dranga area of Doda district. Whereas, a tunnel near Khellani in the Doda district is almost complete, awaiting its approach road, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. Another tunnel, under construction near Drabshala between Thathri and Kishtwar, is also expected to be completed by the end of this year.
A 12-km-long tunnel is planned between Singhpura in Kishtwar district and Vailoo in Anantnag district. The detailed project report for this tunnel is nearly complete, though the tendering process has yet to begin.
According to National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) officials, the tender of Sudhmahadev to Dranga tunnels was awarded to a company based in Azerbaijan but the home ministry didn't give the no objection certificate to the company and the allotment was cancelled. "Now, a fresh tender will be floated with increased cost and we are hopeful that in a few months, the process will be completed and construction work will start," said an NHIDCL official.
Another 250-km-long corridor will be constructed between Kathua-Basholi-Bhaderwah-Doda which includes a seven-km-long Chattergala tunnel between Basohli and Bhaderwah. This tunnel will make it all-weather road connectivity which otherwise used to be closed for four to five months during winters. This corridor will provide an opportunity for people coming from Punjab to have access to the tourist places of Doda and Kishtwar and can travel upto Kashmir without touching the main National highway between Jammu and Srinagar. This corridor will join Chenani-Anantnag corridor (NH244) at Pul Doda area of the Doda district. This will be the only four-lane corridor announced by the union minister apart from NH44.
The minister also talked about the Jammu-Poonch corridor, which is already in progress and a tunnel is being constructed from Akhnoor to Sunderbani, which will reduce the distance between Jammu and Poonch. This corridor is of utmost importance because of its strategic nature as the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch share the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) and this corridor will serve defence forces also to remain connected with the hinterland.
Finally, the 303-km-long Surankote-Shopian-Baramulla-Uri corridor, also known as the Mughal Road, will provide the third all-weather connectivity to the Kashmir Valley. While the road currently remains open during summer, snow accumulation leads to its closure in winter. A tunnel will be constructed along this route to enable year-round functionality.
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