New national highway connecting Doda with Udhampur district through Marmat-Sudhmahadev circuit still a distant dream
Amir Tantray
Doda, June 10: Better
road connectivity is guarantee to development of an area but people of twin districts
of Doda and Kishtwar have been facing the brunt of poor road connectivity, which
has taken toll on their lives as well as upliftment of the area.
People will have to
wait for another five to six years to get the upgraded road connectivity.
The work on two
tunnels connecting Marmat area of Doda district with Sudhmahadev area of
Udhampur district is yet to start. The work is still stuck on completing the
documental formalities including allotment of tenders.
“Once the tendering
and allotment process is completed and formal work starts on the construction
of these two tunnels, it will take around five to six years to get complete,” said
Col. (Retd.) N S Gill, General Manager Doda of National Highway Infrastructure
Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
The government of
India had given new alignment of national highway for Doda district which will
bypass the existing Batote to Khellani stretch of national highway. The new highway
is being constructed through Marmat hills after taking off near Khellani and beyond
those two tunnels; it will pass through Sudhmahadev and will be connected with
existing NH44 near Chenani.
The total distance
from taking off point upto Sudhmahadev will be 29 kilometres including two
tunnels, 2.6 km-long-tunnel from Bari in Marmat to Thanda Pani, 1.2 km road in
Thanda Pani and then another 5.4 km-long-tunnel from Thanda Pani to
Sudhmahadev. After that a new stretch of 17 kms of road is being constructed from
Sudhmahadev upto existing national highway 44 near Chenani which will bypass
the Chenani town as well.
“Once the new
national highway is completed it will bring down the travel time by atleast one
hour and road will be constructed by putting all the safety measures in place,”
Col. Gill added.
People currently
are travelling on existing Batote-Kishtwar national highway (NH244) but the condition
of the road is becoming bad to worst. After Baghliar power project reservoir came
into being, the existing NH244 started losing its sheen when landsides became
order of day and many places started sinking due to presence of loose soil. Every
now and then landslides damage the highway leading its closure and squeezing of
breadth of the road. Such things become threat to the movement of vehicles and
at times lead to accidents.
This NH244 is one
the most dangerous highways of J&K and being prone to accidents, it has
claimed lives of thousands people in past 30 years. People of the area are of
the opinion that NH244 has claimed more lives than the militancy and people
from every area have been killed in accidents on this highway. From busses to
cars to goods vehicles, all have faced accidents in which many people have lost
their lives. Even the officers, who come from outside to serve people of these
twin districts, by being away from their families, have been killed as well.
These roads have spared none who try to cross the limits.
The irony is that fatality
rate of accidents on this highway is higher than any other place and the NHIDCL
officer also shares the same feeling.
“Accidents in any
other place claim one or two lives but accidents on NH244 have high fatality rate
as compared to other areas. Many at times we have witnessed 100 percent
fatalities during accidents on this highway,” Gill said, adding that NHIDCL is
also working on improving the condition of the highway by putting in place
crash barriers at crucial points.
Moreover, the inclement
weather also damage the highway and potholes appear after every winter and
especially after snowfall and heavy rainfall. These potholes become reason for
damage to vehicles and for the last one year many areas on the highway are
becoming death trap as no one is taking care of highway.
“There were some
issues with the previous contractor who was responsible for the macadamisation
and maintenance. The contractor has backed off and we have also blacklisted
him,” the GM NHIDCL said.
“We have now
floated new tenders and once all the formalities are completed macadamisation
process of the existing NH244 will be done,” he added.
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