Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 19: Western Army Commander Lt Gen KJ Singh, whose command controls three strategic districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua in Jammu region apart from Pathankot, which witnessed deadly terrorist attack by six militants on January 2, has suggested setting up of Multi Agency Task Force to approve and monitor development and upgradation of alternate road and rail links from Dhar to Udhampur in a time bound manner, which had become necessary from strategic point of view.
In a letter written to the Jammu and Kashmir Government, a copy of which was in possession of the Excelsior, the Western Army Commander has stressed that alternate road and rail links from Dhar (Pathankot) to Udhampur, has become necessity taking in view various security aspects including last year’s terror attacks along the National Highway.
The agencies, the Western Army Commander has proposed for inclusion in the Multi Agency Task Force, included Divisional Commissioner of Jammu Division, representatives of the Army from Northern and Western Commands (one each), Border Roads Organization (BRO)-Project Sampark, Divisional Railways Manager, Ferozepur, Deputy Commissioner, Gurdaspur, (special invitee), nominated official of Ministry of Home Affairs and Ranjit Sagar Dam Project (special invitee).
“The proximity of existing National Highway (Pathankot-Jammu) to the International Border and increase in the incidents of terrorist attacks necessitate that adequate redundancies to road and rail links are built. Existing road link connecting Dhar and Udhampur offers an ideal option for developing redundancies to NH and if the road link is upgraded from presently planned NHDL specifications to an Expressway, it will serve as an alternate for induction of forces into Jammu and Kashmir,” Lt Gen Singh said.
The Western Army Commander and the then Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh had also discussed in detail the issues pertaining to alternate road and rail links from Pathankot to Jammu to keep the State connected in case of any eventuality from across the border. A meeting for funding alternate links was proposed to be held with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on January 21 but as the State Government ceased to exist in view of the death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the meeting was postponed.
The top Army Commander has proposed establishment of military and para-military establishments and tourism infrastructure along proposed Dhar-Udhampur axis for overall development and security of the area, upgradation of existing road to Expressway specifications and development of an alternate rail link.
In support of his contention for development of Dhar-Udhampur axis, Lt Gen Singh has stated that existing National Highway apart from being the lifeline of Northern Command (headquartered at Udhampur) is also the main artery for civil population of the State.
“Frequent disruption of this axis leads to highlighting entire State of J&K including Jammu as a dispute territory. In 2015 alone, there had been three separate incidents of terror attacks on military as well as civil installations astride the Highway,” he pointed out.
He said India in general and Jammu and Kashmir in particular should adopt response to Pakistan’s designs of disrupting the National Highway as well as the rail link between Pathankot, Jammu and Udhampur.
Noting that the National Highway was located mere 7.5 kilometers from the International Border and remained hotbed of violence, the Western Army Commander pointed out that “being so close to the border, it leads to over commitment of troops for policing duty . Pakistan, on the other hand, with ease and impunity projects its image right up to this lifeline of J&K and exercises the option of severing it at will”.
He said though the International Border has been fenced, the seasonal rivers ensure that there are a large number of gaps thereby making the border porous and National Highway accessible to the terrorists, which had resulted in three terror strikes on military and civil installations along this Highway last year.
“The existing Dhar-Udhampur road presently serves as an alternate to existing National Highway but the state of maintenance is poor and it lacks lateral connectivity (to the Highway). The rail link to Jammu and beyond Udhampur similarly has no existing alternate available and any secondary rail link between Pathankot and Udhampur will have to be done as a green field alignment preferably along the existing road link. The distance involved is just 100 kilometers approximately and it would result in huge savings in cost of transportation and time,” the Western Army Commander observed and development of Dhar-Udhampur road and rail links will achieve a two fold gain as the vulnerability of NH-44 will be eradicated by virtue of making it difficult for Pakistan to interdict the main artery leading to the State of J&K.
Asserting that Dhar-Udhampur road with a total length of 133 kilometers was readily available as an alternative, Lt Gen KJ Singh said the biggest bottlenecks are required to develop a bypass around Ranjit Sagar dam and expedite construction of Bhaini bridge.
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