Connectivity Network for Kashmir To be ensured
Metrolite a light rail urban transit system suitable for cities with lower passenger projection is being planned for Srinagar. It will cater to lower passenger capacity at a much reduced cost than a metro line. It will have dedicated tracks, separated from the road. In addition to less capital cost, the operation and maintenance cost of Metrolite would also be less. Metrolite in Srinagar, is expected to be completed in four years. It would have 24 stations on the two corridors. One corridor of 12.5 km will connect Indira Nagar to HMT and another of the same length would be laid from Iqbal Park to Osmanabad.
Over 30 Central Ministers have visited the Union Territory in the last two months to ensure that all plans get implemented and nothing is left out. To give the UT of J& K a significant road network the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari’s also paid a visit to ensure construction of four new highways.
Early this week, Gadkari had approved works on major national highways and roads costing about Rs 3,900 crore for both Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and the neighbouring State of Punjab. The three works approved at the cost of over Rs 3,900 crore will give a major boost to development of highways and road infrastructure network. Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway in particular will sharply reduce travel time and distance between New Delhi and Jammu. Passing through Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, it will be substantially beneficial for travellers-particularly tourists, pilgrims, students, farmers and traders.
The construction of a new strategically important highway from Akhnoor to Poonch is also quite significant. Project Sampark of Boarder Roads Organization will be carrying out an up-gradation work to 2-Lane with paved shoulder on Akhnoor-Poonch Road (NH-144A) with a budget of Rs 441 crore. Construction of this highway will remarkably cut short distance as well as travel time between Jammu and Poonch through the border belt of Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch districts. Construction of a wide road from Jammu to Akhnoor is already in progress. The highway will hugely benefit the population in Rajouri and Poonch districts besides the security forces. Ladakh and the Jammu and Kashmir UT’s Rajouri and Poonch districts are among the strategically critical territories.
Gadkari also announced approval to construction work of 4/6-Lane access-controlled expressway from junction with Pathankot-Gurdaspur Road (NH-54 near Balsua to junction with Hiranagar Road near village Gurha Baildaran) of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway on HAM mode under Bharatmala Pariyojana (Phase-II, Pkg-XIV) with a budget of Rs 3,044 crore in Punjab Jammu and Kashmir.
For Ladakh, Gadkari approved construction of three 2-lane realignments including Drass, Kharboo and Kargil between Pandrass-Pashkyum on Zojila-Kargil-Leh road (National Highway-I) under Project Vijayak (Border Roads Organization) in Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode with the Central funding worth Rs 426.14 crore.
During his visit to J&K in October, Gadkari made an inspection of the two major tunnels under construction in Zojila area on the Srinagar-Leh highway which will, for the first time in history, provide a 24x7x365 all-weather connectivity between Leh, Kargil, Srinagar and Jammu.
According to authoritative sources, Gadkari should also be announcing four more national highways in Jammu and Kashmir in a few days. All the four will be in Jammu division. These include widening and transformation into a highway of the traditional Jammu-Sialkot Road up to the International Border at Suchetgarh. In addition to boosting tourism, it would come as a major relief for the Army and BSF guarding the IB.
Part of the Union Highway Ministry’s ‘Baratmala’ project, this highway of national importance would start from the Tawi bridge in Jammu and pass through Jammu airport, Miran Sahib and RS Pura, parallel to the pre-Partition railway track between Jammu and Lahore through Sialkot.
Yet another part of ‘Bharatmala’ project, a national highway would be developed between Dayalachak and Basohli through Challan, Billawar and Manpur. It will boost road connectivity in Kathua district linking Hiranagar, Billawar and Basohli. The Centre would shortly create a tourist circuit through Billawar, Basohli and Bani in Kathua district.
Two more roads being declared as the national highways are Kathua-Basohli-Bani-Bhaderwah-Doda (connecting National Highway-44 with National Highway-244) and Doda-Bhaderwah-Chamba (Himachal Pradesh) connecting National Highway-154 A with National Highway 244. Kathua-Basohli-Bani-Bhaderwah-Doda highway will give a major boost to road connectivity to hilly areas of Kathua and Doda districts while Doda-Bhaderwah-Chamba highway could become a major road link between Jammu and Himachal Pradesh.
