Jammu, May 8: The Jammu region would soon have its first ever surface link with the neighbouring Himachal Pardesh as the up-gradation work on the Bhaderwah-Chamba road is likely to be completed by the end of next year.
 Being projected as a prestigious link for promotion of tourism in this part of the state, the commissioning of the road would serve as first ever direct surface link of Jammu region with the Himalayan state and an alternate link with the rest of the country.
 Engineers of executing agency MG Contractors Private Limited told Greater Kashmir that the up-gradation work on 42 kilometer long road was in full swing and the route would be ready for vehicular movement by November 2013. “If weather conditions remain conducive, the road widening, repairing and black topping will be completed by November, 2013” they said.
 They said that out of the three steel bridges to be constructed along the route, one was ready, while the work on the other two would be completed by this year end.
 “The construction of one steel structure bridge has already been completed, while the work on the second is in last stage- the third one is also likely to be completed by the end of this year” they said.
 Elaborating the hurdles being faced by the company in the execution of the work, they said, “The road passes through hard rocky mountains which are still covered by snow. The work has been resumed on major portion, but there are some places where snow is hampering the work”.
 They further said that the road traverses through high mountain ranges which experience snow and rainfall off and on. “Since last few days there was regular rain and snowfall along the route which halted the construction work resumed after winter. The rain and snowfall often causes landslides forcing men and machinery to stop work” they added.
 The road on the Himachal Pardesh side, they said, was still covered under snow. “The snow clearance operation is in progress. It would take around 15-20 days to clear the snow on HP side” they said, adding that the construction work on the other side would only be started after June this year.
 They said that due to hostile weather conditions they were getting very less working time. “We are getting only 7 months work time in a year. During last two years we got only 14-15 months, if the weather remains normal the work would be completed by next year”.
 Pertinently the construction work on the road project was resumed in the year 2010, after a gap of more than two decades.
 The project, which was stopped abruptly, had been sanctioned under Inter-State Connectivity program at a cost of Rs 73.33 crores. This road was motorable for vehicles up to 1986, but due to the militancy the road had been abandoned. The completion of the project will give fillip to tourism, trade and people to people contact between the two states and also strengthen the local economy and will also increase the potential of pilgrim tourism of the Bhaderwah which is known for Machail Yatra, Mani Mahesh Yatra and Kailash Yatra etc.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 8 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 8 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 9 May 2012 00:00:00 IST