Mughal Road may be opened a month earlier, ‘by end of March’

Mughal Road may be opened a month earlier, ‘by end of March’

Shopian: The Mughal Road which has been closed for vehicular movement since November last year is likely to be restored and opened for vehicular traffic a month earlier this year, by the end of March, officials told Kashmir Reader.
Despite heavy snowfall in the region this winter, the snow clearance process, which was started two days ago, will be finished within a fortnight, provided the weather remains good, officials said.
They said that if the authorities in Poonch region also start the snow clearance process on the road, then by the end of March it can be opened for transport.
Fayaz Ahmad, in charge of the road for the Mechanical Engineering Department, told Kashmir Reader that they have cleared the snow till Dhobijan. “We saw three to four feet of snow in this area, which falls on the left side of the mountain pass. Ahead of Dhobijan, the road is on the right side of the mountain range and according to technical inputs, there is less snow there, so it may take us less time to clear snow on the rest of the road. I think it will take 15 more days,” he said.
When asked if there is any apprehension of avalanches, as has happened in the past during snow clearance, he said if it had snowed in the month of February, there would have been chances of avalanches. “But when it snows in January, the snow freezes and in spring it slowly melts. There is no such apprehension of avalanches and most of the snow on the right mountain pass besides the Mughal Road has melted,” Ahmad said, calling this as nature’s law as there is less snow in the upper reaches.
He said that they have sufficient number of machines and men for snow clearance on the road.
Muhammad Ashraf, president of the fruit mandi Shopian, said that on days when the Srinagar-Jammu is closed for maintenance or during bad weather, this road would act as lifeline for the people. “Nowadays we are facing hardships again as our fruit gets stuck on the road. It not only damages the fruit but also disturbs the demand and supply chain. Our fruit gets less rates when it reaches the market in surplus supply all at once,” he said, adding that a tunnel on the Mughal Road will end all the problems of fruit growers in Kashmir.
The Mughal Road is 84 kilometers in length and connects Kashmir valley via Shopian with Jammu’s Poonch. This road was officially thrown open for vehicular movement in 2010, but a much-needed tunnel between Zaznad and Chattapani still remains a distant dream for both the regions. This tunnel would make this road an all-weather one and will also reduce the heavy vehicular load on the main NH 44 which joins Srinagar with Jammu.
When the Mughal Road is open, trade between the regions of Jammu and Kashmir gets a boost, and vice versa suffers a setback once it gets closed for the months of winter.
According to locals, besides trade, lots of marriages also take place between the people of the two regions when the road is open.

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