Kupwara / Rajouri, Oct 28: As part of the e-inauguration ceremony of 75 infrastructure projects, Union Defense Minister, Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Hajibal-Z Gali-Machill Road here Friday at Surkoli Kalaroose through virtual mode.
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kupwara Doifode Sagar Dattatray, 53 Brigade Commander Vinod Negi, and Colonel M A Khan besides the officers from the Army and civil administration were present on the occasion.
During the event it was informed that the Hajibal-Z Gali-Machill road spreading over 33.96 km had been constructed at Rs 83.66 crore by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) 109 RCC GREF, Kupwara.
DC Dattatray congratulated the BRO team for the e-inauguration of the road by the Union Defense Minister.
The Defence Minister also e-inaugurated five vital development projects in Rajouri and Poonch districts.
These projects included two bridges and three roads.
The projects were e-inaugurated by the Defence Minister from Ladakh while local officers of BRO and civil administration including District Magistrate Rajouri were present on the occasion.
Four of these projects are from the Rajouri district and one is from the Poonch district.
Officials said that in Rajouri four projects e-inaugurated by the Defence Minister include Rajouri-Kotranka-Budhal Road, Rajouri-Kalakote-Pouni Road, Suktoh Bridge at Gambhir Brahmana village, and Deeing Bridge in Nowshera tehsil.
The inaugurated Rajouri-Kotranka-Budhal Road starts from the Khandli Bridge of Rajouri town and connects Kotranka and Budhal township with the district headquarters while this road also connects with Reasi district via Chassana.
The Rajouri-Kalakote-Pouni Road also starts from Khandli Bridge and connects the Kalakote subdivision and ends at Pouni and also connects with Reasi district via Teryath.
The two bridges that have been inaugurated include the Suktoh Bridge over Gambhir Nallah which is a major bridge having a length of 60 meters and is located on the road from Gambhir to Chamba.
The Ding Bridge is a Multi-Cell Box Bridge (MCBB) spanning 30.20 meters over Ding Nallah and is located on the Seri-Kala-Rumlidhara Road.
Both these constructed bridges have provided all-weather connectivity from Rajouri to forward border locations to the civil population as well as the defence forces.
In Poonch, the vital Saujiyan Khet Road has strategic importance as it is located close to the Line of Control (LoC) and would be used by troops besides civilians demanding construction of this road for a long time.
In Rajouri, the e-inauguration was done by the Defence Minister while the BRO officials as well as District Magistrate Rajouri Vikas Kundal were present at the site of the inauguration.