Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan 30: Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India is working on a proposal submitted by Union Minister and Member of Parliament from Udhampur-Kathua-Doda constituency, Dr Jitendra Singh for construction of a vital 3.5 km long tunnel/pass at Chhatergalla on the Bhaderwah-Bani-Basohli road access.
Following a series of meetings in the Ministry of Defence, Lt. Gen. Suresh Sharma, Director General, Border Road Organization (BRO) and Engineer-in-Chief designate, today called on Dr Jitendra Singh for a detailed discussion on the proposed project. The issue was first taken up by Dr Jitendra Singh with Union Minister of Defence, Manohar Parrikar at the time of inauguration of North-India’s first cable-stayed bridge “Atal Setu” at Basohli on 24th December 2015.
Later on, even though a feasibility study for the construction of the tunnel had already been carried out earlier, once again a high-level technical team was sent by BRO to work out the feasibility for the construction of the envisaged tunnel and when the feasibility report came positive, the further deliberations started. One of the major constraints of the proposal may be the huge budget involved, considering which, Dr Jitendra Singh today wrote another letter to the Defence Minister and handed over a copy to Director General BRO, seeking to justify the construction of the tunnel, notwithstanding its cost, on the basis of contention that in addition to being a game changer for the socio-economic development of the entire Chenab region. The proposed tunnel will also provide a crucial alternative all-weather access to the Army for induction and maintenance of security forces in the region as well as in the Kashmir valley. Therefore, the letter requested the Ministry of Defence to include this project under the category of “Road of Strategic Importance”.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, once the proposal is through, the time taken for construction of the tunnel and its becoming functional may be more than a decade or so, but it was his keen endeavor that the proposal gets initiated through him as the MP representing the region.
The erstwhile Doda district, Dr Jitendra Singh said, is currently connected to Jammu and the rest of the country through a single access via Batote (NH-244). The entire stretch from Batote to Doda has witnessed deterioration over the years on account of vagaries of weather and other reasons. Towards that end, he said, a viable option is feasible along the existing Lakhanpur-Basohli-Bani-Bhaderwah road access through Chhatergalla tunnel/pass along the Shivalik ranges. This would also entail improvement and upgradation of the existing roads,as also the construction of the proposed tunnel, he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh further disclosed that the total length of the envisaged road from Lakhanpur to Doda including the proposed tunnel at Chhatergalla will be around 300 kms. When completed, this will drastically bring down the travel time as the proposed highway will take off from Lakhanpur, the entry point of Jammu & Kashmir State and meet the existing Batote-Doda-Kishtwar-Sinthan-Anantnag highway near Pul Doda.
The new route via tunnel, said Dr Jitendra Singh, will bring a boom for tourism, trade and pilgrimage travel.
Gen. Suresh Sharma explained the various technical constraints and financial liabilities involved in this project, but said, the officials in the BRO and the Ministry of Defence are highly motivated by the consistent and persuasive follow-up by Dr Jitendra Singh. He said, it might take quite some time to get the project going, but, we are seriously evaluating and working on each aspect of it.
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