Batote–Kishtwar road opens for traffic, Mughal Road to be through by April 15

JAMMU, MARCH 22: Minister for Public Works Naeem Akhtar today laid thrust on early completion of road clearance operations for restoration of traffic on all snowbound and landslide hit roads in the state.

He directed the Public Works department to employ all necessary resources, men and machinery, round-the-clock to clear the roads and open them for traffic movement.

The Minister was reviewing the status of road clearance operations of Mughal Road, Batote-Kishtwar and internal roads of Doda, Kishtwar region at a meeting of senior functionaries in his office chambers, here today.

The Minister said that road connectivity is the lifeline for state economy especially the far off, rural regions and every necessary resource will be deployed to make these roads safe for transit.

The Minister was informed by Chief Engineer R&B that he has recently conducted an extensive tour of these regions to evaluate the on-ground situation of these operations.

The CE informed the Minister the recent slip near Thathri that resulted in traffic suspension on Doda- Kishtwar route for 4 days, has been cleared and traffic movement has been restored.

Regarding the Mughal road, the Minister was informed that due to weather situation in last couple of weeks, there have been regular occurrences of slips and slides along the route. Extensive clearance operations are underway on both ends and the road is expected to be ready for traffic movement by April 15, subject to weather conditions.

It was further informed that 22 km stretch from Shopian end and 18 km stretch from Rajouri end have been cleared. The work on remaining 43 km is being executed at full pace under direct supervision of Chief Engineer Mechanical and Chief Engineer Mughal road who will be camping at these sites.

It was also informed in the meeting that preliminary project report for the Chattargala tunnel on Basholi-Bhaderwah road  is ready and will soon be submitted to Union government post which further process for funding etc will be initiated which is likely to take  upto one year.

The Chattargala tunnel will directly connect the Bhaderwah – Bani Basohli and convert this seasonal road into all weather roads.