The route connecting Delhi, Jammu, and Srinagar will increase tourist traffic to Kashmir by a factor of four. Gadkari, who visited the Banihal-Qazigund tunnel and other union territory projects, claimed that after they are about to be finished and it will take just 8 hours to travel from Delhi to Srinagar.
Several road projects in the Union territory were inspected by the minister for roads, highways and transportation on Tuesday. The 924-meter Banihal-Qazigund tunnel would circumvent a roughly three-kilometre-long landslip and accident-prone area in the Ramban district.
The 270-kilometre Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all-weather route connecting Kashmir with the rest of the nation, is currently being four-laned. The 924-meter-long Banihal-Qazigund tunnel, which will avoid a 3 km landslide-prone region in the Ramban district of Jammu, is a part of this project.
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Together with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Federal Ministers Jitendra Singh and Gen. VK Singh, Gadkari also carried out a controlled detonation in the tunnel to burst through the Sita Rama Passi Maroog in virtual mode.
According to Gadkari, there are road projects in the valley totalling 1.25 lakh crore. Between Jammu and Srinagar, three important roads are being built, he continued. When these developments are finished, it will take six hours to travel from Delhi to Katra, the location of Mata Vaishnodevi's cave shrine.
"Presently the distance from Delhi to Katra is 727 km, this expressway will reduce the distance by 58 km,” Gadkari noted.
The construction of the Jammu–Srinagar national highway, which started in 2011, is expected to be finished by the end of the following year. It consists of a variety of small and large tunnels, bridges, and flyovers.
