Road projects likely to get a renewed push

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir’s road connectivity programme will get further boost as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) revoked provisions of Article 370 or the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

The revocation bifurcated the region into two union territories-- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakah. This will make the two union territories come under the Central government, which in turn is expected to give better focus on roads and infrastructure in that region, that has been lagging behind due to violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

Presently, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is working on five road projects spanning 189 km and worth ₹10,176 crore in Jammu and Kashmir and the latest development is expected to kick start more projects.

These projects are: four laning of 40.07 km Jammu-Udhampur section of NH-44, four laning of 32.10 km of Ramban-Banihal road on NH-44, four laning of 67.76 km Srinagar-Banihal section on NH-44, construction of 58.26 km ring road around Jammu city, four laning of Quazigund-Banihal section, which includes tunnel and two-lane.

Besides, National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) is working on two-laning of Chenani-Sudhmahadev-Goha on NH-244. NHIDCL builds, operates, maintains and upgrades national highways and strategic roads, including roads that share international boundaries with neighbouring countries.

NHIDCL, a public sector company under road ministry is also working on building two tunnels—6.5 km Z-Morh tunnel and 14.3 km Zojila tunnel. The Zojila tunnel will connect Srinagar and Leh and is expected to bring about strategic and socio-cultural integration of this region and develop economically backward districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

An expert said that a lot of development activity and funding is expected to kick start in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Now there will be a lot of infrastructure requirement to support the industrial and commercial growth in that region. To that extent, it is a big positive for the infrastructure sector. If better projects come up, there will be better returns,” Samir Kanabar, Partner at E&Y said.

For the overall development, one can expect funding from global lending agencies these projects will be backed by the government, which will increase its certainty and credibility,” he said.