Shopian: Every year, the historic Mughal road which connects Kashmir to Pirpanjal region in Jammu remains closed for almost five months during winters. This
year, the untimely November 7 snow has resulted in early closure of the road from last two weeks, causing immense hardships to people in both the regions.
To make the road all-weather, the government had proposed construction of 7-9 km long tunnel on landslide and avalanche prone stretch Zaznad to Chatta-Pani.
The road, which was thrown open for traffic in 2010, cuts through Shopian along the Pirpanjal mountain range to reach Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu.
According to an official of the roads and buildings department, they were asked to prepare a preliminary report on the project two years ago. But since then
there has been no progress on the project, he added.
“They neither asked for detailed project report nor approved funds for it,” the official told Kashmir Reader. The report had pegged the cost for the
construction of 7-9 kilometre tunnel at Rs 44, 00 crore.
The report was prepared in the backdrop of growing public demand for construction of the tunnel after the road recurrently remained closed during the PDP-BJP
coalition government. It prompted the Minister for Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Nitin Gadkari to assure the former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti
about construction of the tunnel.
Meanwhile, soon after the recent snow, men and machinery was pressed into service to clear the road, however, frequent landslides are delaying the
restoration work.
An official said that they are not sure how much time it will take to clear the road. “We are cutting a landslide and don’t know what is condition
thereafter,” he said adding that it will take three to fifteen days to make road traffic worthy.

Raashid Hassan