Apni Party General Secretary Rafi Ahmad Mir Saturday urged the J&K administration to open the alternative seasonal Mughal Road which connects Kashmir to the PirPanjal region.
In a statement issued here, Mir said that the dilapidated condition of the Srinagar-Jammu highway creates great inconvenience to the travelers and even incurs immense losses to the business sector.
He said that the Apni Party President AltafBukhari, in a conversation with the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, had apprised him about the ground situation regarding COVID-19 pandemic and expressed the dire need for opening the Mughal Road.
“The Mughal Road is a natural alternative route that connects the valley with PirPanjal. Furthermore, it enables the nomadic Gujjar tribes to travel to the valley along with their livestock, a practice that has been going on for centuries. The representatives of such nomadic communities have also expressed the requite need for throwing this route for the general public,” Mir said.
Mir said that as Apni Party had from time-to-time raised the demand of opening the Mughal road for the general public, the Lt Governor should reciprocate with the demand of the people especially when the region of J&K was grappling with a vicious contagion.
“In view of the persistent dilapidated condition of Srinagar-Jammu highway, the Mughal Road connectivity between Kashmir and PirPanjal region remains imperative to be opened up to the people without any disparity,” he said.
Mir said that the party hopes that this request would be acquiesced by the government, as even the Lt Governor had assured the Apni Party president that a positive consideration would be accorded to this genuine demand and would be soon discoursed in accordance with the requisite procedural norms.