Sir,
It is heartening to read that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister has approved Rs 4305.63 crores as revised cost estimates for four laning of Udhampur to Ramban and Ramban to Banihal sections of Jammu & Kashmir National Highway- 44, under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-II.The Jammu – Kashmir National Highway is the lifeline to the Kashmir Valley but it gets blocked for days together at many places such as Khairi, Panthaal,etc due to landslides triggered by rains during the rainy season.The closure of the roads leads to untold hardships to the passangers in general and the drivers in particular and sometimes materials, especially perishable in trucks gets rotton causing huge loss to the traders.The Border Roads Organisation ,entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining this vital road link between Jammu and Srinagar,has to work day and night to reopen this road for vehicular traffic.
Sometimes,this road remains open for one way traffic which forces the passangers to undergo a lot of hardships and inconvenience.Moreover, it takes a lot of time for the passangers to cover the journey from Jammu to Srinagar in view of zig zag and serpentine road and sharp curves at many places which sometimes cause accidents taking a heavy toll of life.The four laning of these two sections ,besides reducing the journey from Jammu, will also ensure all weather road connectivity from Jammu to Kashmir and come as a big relief for the people of Jammu & Kashmir.The fourlaning of Jammu – Udhampur stretch has already made the journey pleasant and enjoyable for the commuters.There are now few traffic jams on this stretch of road.Once completed,the commuters will have the same experience by travelling on Udhampur- Banihal stretch of Jammu & Kaskmir National Highway along the pictursque landscape and beautiful valleys.It is hoped that work on these two sections will start soon and executing agencies will complete the work in due time.
Yours etc….
Ashok Sharma,
Jammu
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