Right from the day when NDA Government assumed power, the Union Minister for Road and Surface Transport, Nitin Gadkari repeatedly said that building new roads, repairing old roads and expanding road network in the country was the priority of the NDA Government. Not only that, in the two budgets presented by the NDA Government so far, maximum allocations have been made to the Ministry for Road and Surface Transport. This is the right approach because keeping in mind the vast land mass of the country we do not have adequate connectivity which is crucial to economic development of the people at large. In fact the idea of expanding the network of road connectivity was the brainchild of the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
In regard to road projects in our State, the Union Minister for Road and Surface Transport created good impression when he said that J&K had special need to be brought on the road connectivity map of the country. The impression was that the Union Ministry wants to develop connectivity to the remotest places also and overcome the age-old difficulty of building roads over mountainous region of the State. Building roads means building bridges, culverts, tunnels, subway or overhead bridges as the situation demands. Lately, it has been found that an important component of road building in the State is the building of tunnels. For various reasons tunnels have been found very dependable and viable as far as keeping the roads open for traffic in snow-bound region is concerned. Tunnels shorten the distance, do away with circuitous roads, are safe against landslides or mudslides and reduce the time of travel. Of course, building tunnels is expensive exercise but for a mountainous State like Jammu and Kashmir, it is worthwhile spending money on these projects. Take the case of Ladakh. This is a plateau above 11,000 feet from sea level. Approach to Ladakh region is possible after crossing the Zojila pass situated nearly twelve thousand feet above sea level. It remains snow clad for most part of the year and renders road connectivity with Ladakh impossible during seven or eight months. Apart from the fact that the State has to take care of the population of the region, it is strategically very crucial to the security of our northern frontier. Borders of China and Pakistan meet with our border in Ladakh, and it calls for advanced security measures. On November 7, 2015, Union Minister for Road and Surface Transport, Nitin Gadkari had announced that work on the Zojila tunnel would begin in the month of June 2016 to provide all weather connectivity to Ladakh region. This announcement was made in the presence of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who had come to dedicate 450 Mega Watt Baglihar Hydro Electric Power Project Phase-II to the nation. The 14.08 kilometer long Southeast Asia’s longest tunnel was estimated to be constructed at a cost of rupees 10,050 crore rupees. In the month of January this year, the Union Government announced with much fanfare that IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd, one of the largest Built Own Transfer road developers in India has been selected for building this prestigious project. The announcement brought great satisfaction to the people of entire Ladakh region and the State as a whole because it would completely change the economy of the vast cold desert region which remains disconnected from the rest of the world for more than half of a year.
However, early this month it was revealed that the Union Government had ordered rebidding of the strategic Zojila pass tunnel contract in view of doubts raised in respect of allotment of project to IRB Infrastructure. We are not aware of the reasons for this decision and we do not want to go into that aspect as it is an administrative matter. But what concerns us is that the beginning of work at the project is now delayed perhaps by at least one year. The new tenders will be called, considered and decided and by that time winter will have set in in the cold region of Ladakh. Even if new tenders are accepted by the month of August, it will not be possible for the new construction agency to move men and material before the cold winter sets in at Zojila. The people of Ladakh region are disappointed at this development. They had been entertaining dreams and hopes which seem to be shattering. All that we emphasize upon is that the Union Government needs to keep the sentiments of people in view and not disappoint them. Even from security aspect, we are sad that the delay has occurred.
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