LG discusses important projects of J&K
New NH to connect tourist spots, reduce travel time: Dr Jitendra
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 17: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari today approved construction of Chhatergala tunnel by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) which will link Lakhanpur with Doda via Basohli-Bani-Bhaderwah as a National Highway making it a run of just four hours.
Click here to watch video
The approval was given by Gadkari at a high-level meeting in Srinagar chaired by him and attended among others by Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and senior officers of NHAI, NHIDCL and the J&K Government.
Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
“Entire project has been taken over by the NHAI and will be constructed as the National Highway,” Dr Jitendra Singh said and added that it will directly link Lakhanpur with Doda through Bani, Basohli and Bhaderwah. The distance from Lakhanpur to Doda will be covered in just four hours after completion of the new highway.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha discussed important projects with Gadkari at the meeting.
“Discussed important projects including Z-Morh Tunnel, Ring Road Jammu, 4-laning of Udhampur-Ramban road, different sections of Khellani-Kishtwar-Chatroo road, Chenani-Sudhmahadev section of NH-244 and various other projects under NHAI, NHIDCL & SAMPARK,” a tweet by Office of LG J&K, said.
“We are working with dedication for J&K’s strong and glorious tomorrow. The massive infrastructure push has created new employment opportunities and also gave big boost to UT’s economy,” the Lt Governor said.
“I am grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and hearty congratulations to the team for undertaking infrastructure projects of unprecedented magnitude in Jammu Kashmir,” he said.
Meanwhile, all bottlenecks on Chenani-Sudhmahadev-Doda National Highway 244 have been cleared. The NHAI will also connect three villages with the Highway by constructing link roads. The village include Bargana, Humble and Kalotra (native village of Dr Jitendra Singh).
A part Flyover will also be constructed for the Government Medical College (GMC) Kathua.
Briefing media persons after the meeting, Dr Jitendra Singh said the prestigious Chhatergala tunnel work costing around Rs.4,000 crore will be executed by the NHAI and the under-passes on the prestigious Kathua Express corridor section, wherever demanded by public, will be undertaken at the earliest.
Dr. Jitendra Singh expressed satisfaction and conveyed thanks to Gadkari for having conceded most of the suggestions and proposals put across by him.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that the proposal for Chhatergala tunnel had been initiated about six years back and the DPR was also prepared by the BRO agency Beacons but due to lack of funds it could not be undertaken.
He said, now it has been decided that the NHAI will undertake construction of the new National Highway from Lakhanpur to Basohli-Bani to Bhaderwah-Doda. The construction shall begin from one end and when it reaches the tunnel site the construction of the historic Chhatergala tunnel will also be executed, he added.
Once this highway is complete, said Dr. Jitendra Singh, it will be a game changer as it will provide an all-weather connectivity between Lakhanpur and district Doda via tourist spots of Basohli and Bani, in addition to reducing the travel time considerably and giving a boost to business, employment and revenue generation.
Referring to the under construction Delhi-Katra Express Corridor, Dr. Jitendra Singh recalled that the Express Corridor had been approved after a lot of efforts and the effort began way back in 2015. There were initial delays, he said,because Punjab had also demanded a similar express corridor between Delhi and Amritsar, and finally after arriving at a compromise to have an express corridor between Delhi and Katra with stop-overs at Amritsar and Kathua, the project was finalized.
He informed that the Express Corridor is in the last phase of its completion and expressed satisfaction that on the Kathua-Hiranagar stretch, the public demand for the construction of underpasses at places like Hatli, Rajbagh, Chann Arorian, Chapper and Kootah had been accepted for the convenience of the local population.
In the same constituency, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the work on the National Highway section of Kishtwar Chatru will also be expedited which will provide an alternative road connectivity for ease of travel.
While expressing gratitude to the Government headed by PM Narendra Modi for having allocated major highway projects to his Lok Sabha Constituency, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the work on another prestigious project of Chenani-Sudhmahadev National Highway will also be expedited.
He further informed that the new National Highway via Khellani to Goha will have proper linkage to the adjoining villages of Bergana, Humbal and Kalota which also happens to be his own native village.
As the Minister representing J&K in the Union Council, Dr. Jitendra Singh also appreciated the MoRTH for giving a special focus to the ongoing projects of Srinagar-Sonamarg section, Zojila tunnel, Jammu Rajouri highway and the two ring roads of Srinagar and Jammu respectively.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
