Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Sept 9: In a major relief for commuters of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, which has been turned into worse condition especially between Ramban and Banihal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today approved Rs 4305.63 crores as revised cost estimates for Udhampur to Ramban and Ramban to Banihal to expedite work on 4-laning of the highway under National Highways Development Project (NHDP), Phase-II.
Revised amount of Rs 2136.97 crores has been approved for Udhampur-Ramban section of National Highway-1A (now NH-44) while Rs 2168.66 crores have been approved for Ramban-Banihal section.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister gave approval for revised cost estimates for two sub-projects between Udhampur to Ramban and Ramban to Banihal sections of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, which has been taken up for 4-laning to reduce distance and travel time between two regions including capitals of the State.
The CCEA gave nod to Rs 4305.63 crores for two major sections of Jammu-Srinagar highway following approval given by the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) for development of four laning of National Highways under NHDP Phase-II on Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) Mode.
“The CCEA approves investment/award decision for the sub-project of four laning of Udhampur-Ramban section of the National Highway on EPC mode at revised estimate cost of Rs 2136.97 crores including cost of land acquisition, R&R, pre-construction activities and centage charges. Similarly, the CCEA approved investment award decision for the sub-project of four laning of Ramban-Banihal section at revised cost estimate of Rs 2168.66 crores,” sources said.
They added that approximate length of Udhampur-Ramban section will be 40 kilometers while that of Ramban-Banihal section will be 32 kilometers.
“The decision of CCEA headed by the Prime Minister will expedite implementation of six sub-projects on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway under NHDP Phase-II. Implementation of these projects would provide all weather connectivity from Jammu to Kashmir Valley. It will also reduce the journey from Jammu to Srinagar and strategic border areas in the State.
“Moreover, implementation of the project would result in development of basic infrastructure in the region, which would lead ultimately to overall economic development of Jammu and Kashmir,” sources said.
Pointing out that approval to revised cost estimates for Udhampur-Ramban and Ramban-Banihal stretches of the National Highway had become necessary due to cost escalation of the vital project, sources said the CCEA nod will lead to escalation of work on the project and its completion at the earliest possible time.
Sources said Ramban-Banihal section of the National Highway is the major cause of concern as it gets blocked even with light rains, which trigger landslides. Once blocked, it takes lot of time for the BRO to re-open the National Highway. Ahead of Udhampur, Khairi has become another troublesome zone, which was closed quite often following rains.
Last month, the Union Ministry for Road and Surface Transport had held high level review of bad condition of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
The NHAI has divided the National Highway into six stretches for construction purposes including Jammu-Udhampur, Udhampur-Chenani, Chenani Tunnel-Nashri, Ramban-Banihal, Banihal-Qazigund and Qazigund-Srinagar with a view to expedite work to ensure early completion of the Highway.
The distance of 300 kilometers long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway will be reduced by 60 kilometers after completion of all six stretches of the National Highway. The reduced distance will cut the travel time to just five hours.
Presently, if the National Highway is normal, the journey takes anytime between eight to 10 hours. However, due to frequent road blockades between Ramban and Banihal and other places including Khairi near Udhampur, the people were trapped frequently in the jams and even had to spend nights on the roads to reach their destinations.
The State Government had recently asked the Union Ministry for Surface Transport to stress on the maintenance agencies to keep the highway through during the rains as it remained closed sometime for hours and on other occasions for days together causing enormous inconvenience to the commuters.
The CCEA headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi comprised Rajnath Singh, Home Minister, Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister M Vankiah Naidu, Urban Development Minister, Nitin Gadkari, Surface Transport Minister, Manohar Parrikar, Defence Minister, Suresh Prabhu, Railways Minister, Sadanand Gowda, Law and Justice Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Communications & IT Minister, Ashok Gajapati Raju, Civil Aviation Minister, Harsimrat Kour Badal, Food Processing Minister and Radha Mohan Singh, Agriculture Minister.
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