After a wait for almost five years, work will finally start on the on four-laning of Banihal-Ramban stretch on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway. lying in utter neglect so far, the stretch was risking the lives of thousands of commuters who were traveling on the accident-prone terrain.The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for development of the four laning of the Ramban-Banihal (32.10 kms), as well as the Udhampur-Ramban (40.07 kms) section of National Highway - 1A (now NH-44) in Jammu & Kashmir.
Under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-II, the approval is given under Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode, where the government funds the project.The cost is estimated to be Rs. 1,623.98 crore and Rs 1758.68 for individual projects - including the cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities.
“Implementation of these projects would provide all-weather-connectivity from Jammu to the Kashmir valley. It will also reduce journey time from Jammu to Srinagar and strategic border areas in the State of J&K," said the CCEA in a statement."Moreover, implementation of the project would result in development of basic infrastructure in the region which would ultimately lead to overall economic development of the regions of the State. The project is covered in the region of Ramban and Banihal in Jammu & Kashmir," it said.
The project has been in the pipeline for close to five years now, as the NHAI failed to find takers for the project. The NHAI authorities maintain they floated tenders for the project many times, but no construction company offered their bids, citing low project cost compared to work.The problems for commuters was compounded further as the vital Banihal-Ramban stretch was most accident-prone area of the highway as the stretch gets easily damaged by rains, snow and landslides.