Creating alternates
It was during the past week that a ray of hope was visible regarding the opening of all important Mughal road. The Mechanical Engineering Department put in some efforts and managed to clear the road for one way traffic by working overtime and clearing the road of accumulated snow.
However, as the weather turned bad once again on Tuesday the road may witness yet another delay in its opening as a fresh downpour has been reported in the entire belt. The Mughal road has over the past few years emerged as an alternate to the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway which has turned so harsh for the commuters and truckers that the road has become impossible to traverse.
As the administration has failed to get some works done to keep the Sgr-Jmu highway open for traffic, it is the Mughal road that people especially transporters have put their hope and trust in. But this road too has been witnesses to official apathy as no measures are being ensured so that the road could prove to be an alternative highway.
Interestingly, the government had few years back initiated a proposal to construct a tunnel on the historic Mughal Road and make it an all-weather route, but as of now the proposal has not seen any progress for the past ten years now.
The governments here have been raising the issue quite vehemently over the past eight years now, but still the union government has not been accepting the proposal and allocating funds for it.
From the National Conference-Congress government to the PDP-BJP dispensation in Jammu and Kashmir, the successive regimes in the state had made repeated requests to the government of India to fund construction of the tunnel.
Now the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is under the direct control of the Union government but the proposal has still not seen the light of the day as no progress has been reported on that front.
The historic Mughal Road connects Kashmir with Poonch via southern Shopian district and if the proposed tunnel is constructed, the road could prove to be an alternative to the Srinagar-Jammu highway.
Notably, a proposal for preparation of a detailed project report (DPR) of the tunnel was submitted to the Planning Commission of India, which was replaced by NITI Aaoyg in 2014. However, nothing concrete has come out of it so far.
Following repeated pleas of the governments, the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) in 2017 sought proposals from eligible consultants for preparation of the DPR and work out pre-consultation activities for the tunnel.
But, the NHIDCL suddenly put the tendering process on hold, arguing that the MoRTH has not entrusted the project to it. Adding insult to the injury is the fact that the union government is not approving the proposal of double lanning of the all important Mughal road that could bring in the much needed relief for the people here.
KV Network
