4 years on, no progress on proposal to connect Anantnag with Kishtwar, provide alternative all-weather road to Kashmir
The Jammu and Kashmir government is preparing a fresh detailed project report for construction of 4.5-km Vailoo-Singhpora tunnel on Anantnag-Kishtwar road to make it an all-weather thoroughfare.
The construction of tunnel, which would shorten distance between the two districts, has not seen any progress ever since the proposal was first mooted in 2010.
“We will prepare a fresh Detailed Project Report for the tunnel and once the study is completed, we will take up its construction with the Union Government,” said Minister for Roads and Building (R&B), Syed Altaf Bukhari.
Sources said construction of the tunnel has now been handed over to National Highway Authority of India, and as a result, the state government has been asked to prepare the fresh DPR. Earlier the Border Road Organization was tasked with constructing the tunnel.
Though conceptualized four decades ago, 140-kilometer Anantnag-Kokernag-Kishtwar road was opened for light vehicles more than 30 years later in 2009. However the road that would provide an alternative link to Kashmir with outside world remains open for traffic during summer months only as heavy snowfall at several places including Sinthan Pass—situated at 3797 meters above sea level—shuts the road during winters.
“The tunnel at Ahlan in Vialoo area of Kokernag would bypass treacherous stretch on road that remains buried under snow during winter and we can have traffic on the road round-the-year. Besides, it would also reduce distance between Daksum (Kokernag) in Anantnag and Chatroo in Kishtwar,” said an official in the R&B department.
He said the proposal for the tunnel, estimated at Rs 400 crore, was actually mooted in 2010 and the project was initially to be executed in Public-Private-Partnership mode with J&K Bank as the funding agency.
“The entire project was targeted for completion in 18 months,” he said. “However the project was later shelved for unknown reasons.”
MLA Kokernag Abdur Rahim Rather hoped the construction of tunnel would be taken up on priority by the government.
Anantnag-Achabal- Kokernag road in shambles:
Work on widening of Sinthan-Anantnag road—part of Kishtiwar-Sinthan-Anantnag project—is going on at snail’s pace even as the project has missed several deadlines.
“Though the project was scheduled for completion in 2007, not much progress has been witnessed on it till date. It was first to be executed by BRO but was recently handed over to NHAI,” said a middle-rung official in R&B department.
The condition of the road is pathetic at places like Vailoo, Wangam, Achabal, Brakpora and Doonipawa. “The widening of Doonipwa-Sherpora-Janglat Mandi stretch of the highway in Anantnag town has not been taken up yet,” said a local.
People of Kishtwar also complained of dilapidated condition of road at Chatroo, Aaloo Maidan and several other places.
