JAMMU: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari with Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha, Union Minister of State General (Dr)V. K. Singh(Retd) and Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh inspected Srinagar – Banihal section of Jammu to Udhampur-Ramban-Banihal to Srinagar National Highway (NH-44) being constructed to provide all-weather connectivity between Jammu and Srinagar.
To ease the travel between Jammu and Srinagar, 3 corridors are being built at a cost of Rs 35,000 crore. Under this, the first corridor from Jammu to Udhampur-Ramban-Banihal and further to Srinagar includes the section from Srinagar to Banihal. This 4-lane road of 250 km length is being built at a cost of Rs 16,000 crore. Out of this, 4-laning of 210 km route has been completed, including 10 tunnels of 21.5 km.
The design of 4-laning of this road has been done on the basis of geo-technical and geological investigation to overcome the possible landslides in this area. Crash barriers and other road safety measures have also been put in place to make travel between Jammu and Srinagar safe and smooth.
With the construction of this route, there will be all-weather connectivity between Jammu and Srinagar. Travel time from Srinagar to Jammu will reduce from 9-10 hours to 4-5 hours. A carriage-way of 40 km 4-lane road between Ramban and Banihal will be completed by June 2024 which will provide relief to the commuters of Srinagar.