Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, May 12: Prestigious Mughal Road project which is nearly five years behind its completion target, is all set to be declared as completed by the end of this month (May 2013), as the R&B team chasing the fresh deadline fixed by the Government on January 25 this year has claimed that hardly 10 percent work on the seven vital bridges is left to be executed.
The completion of the Mughal road which connects the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region with the Kashmir valley providing an alternate highway has already been delayed a lot. The work on this Rs 640 crore project was started in October 2005 and June 2008 was fixed as the deadline of completion. Clearance from the National Wild Life Board was the major road block as Heerpur Wild Life Sanctuary on Pir Panjal Ranges was falling on this route. This entire exercise to seek permission remained the major obstacle for the State agency PWD (R&B).
Minister in-charge R&B Abdul Majid Wani who immediately after taking over reviewed the progress on the project on January 25 this year after discussing the vital bottlenecks and hurdles fixed May 31, 2013 as new deadline. The R&B and Mechanical Engineering teams were given instructions to strictly follow the fresh deadline and complete the project. Funds to the tune of Rs 56 crore were also made available for the completion of the seven left over vital bridges enroute.
Mr Wani claimed that he was himself monitoring the work and also updating the CM in this regard. The team has given assurance to meet the target. He said that DPR for the tunnel under Pir Panjal is being prepared. Mr Wani said this historical road will raise the economic condition of the people of Rajouri and Poonch and also give boost to the tourism in the area. He said all efforts will be made to include this prestigious road from Bufliaz to Pampore as National Highway project as it qualifies all the required specifications.
He also pointed out that construction of this road has reduced the travel from Poonch to Srinagar from 590 kms to just 175 km whereas, the travel distance from Rajouri to Srinagar has been reduced from 455 to only nearly 198 kms. The travel duration has also been reduced to great extent.
While road from Peer Ki Gali area of Pir Panjal was cleared for one way traffic after removing snow hardly one week back, the closure of road during winter months was also one of the reasons for slow pace. The work on preparing detailed project report for the construction of 7 km long tunnel between Chhata Pani on Poonch side and Zaznar on Shopian side, ahead of Peer Pass has been commenced and if this tunnel is completed, this road will be opened throughout the year to traffic.
Chief Engineer, Mughal Road Project Bimal Tickoo when contacted said that entire team of his department was busy in meeting the target given by the minister during review meeting in January. He said the work on seven steel super structure bridges was going on and his entire team was closely monitoring the work on daily basis. Mr Tickoo said the pace of work was affected to some extent due to closure of road after heavy snow fall on Pir Panjal. Since the road has now been opened hardly a week ago, the pace of work has been expedited.
Replying to a question, the Chief Engineer said that over 90 per cent work on the bridges has been completed and it was the only main work pending. He said the slow flow of funds for the project in last one year was also a reason for delay. “Entire team is chasing the target given by the minister and we are quite hopeful to meet the fresh deadline of May ending this year,” the Chief Engineer maintained.
Mr Tickoo further said an amount of Rs 56 crore has been sanctioned for the completion of seven bridges. A few bridges fall in the snow bound areas. He said survey work on the Chatta Pani tunnel has been started and if this 7 km tunnel is constructed, it will reduce the distance of nearly 14 kms on this 84 km long road. He disclosed that even now, snow clearance work at places was going on and movement of all types of vehicles has not been allowed. Replying to another question, Mr Tickoo said R&B was supervising the over all work on the project and Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) Ltd and SP Single Constructions Company are mainly engaged on the work.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel