Tunnels for access

Recently, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for the much talked about Zojila Tunnel which is expected to ensure round the year surface access to the remote region of Ladakh. In fact Ladakh is no longer a remote region with almost a dozen air services every day. Yes, it has always remained cut off by surface during winter because of the closure of the road on Zojila pass due to heavy snowfall. Ladakhis had been demanding the construction of the tunnel for a very long time. Interestingly, the roads on two sides are motorable after the clearance of snow but the Zojila is the only bottle neck. Strangely, the peoples’ discomfiture does not count so much as the security considerations. Well, whatever the consideration, the people of Ladakh will benefit from this winter access. While talking of access to remote areas, there are many other places in the state especially Kashmir valley which get totally disconnected in winter due to heavy snowfall. These include, Karna, Gurez, some parts of Kishtwar including Wadwan Valley and so on. There has been a demand for constructing tunnels under Sadhna Pass for Karna; under Razdani Pass for Gurez and under Sinthan Pass for Kishtwar areas. Also, the recently constructed Mughal Road gets blocked during winter due to heavy snowfall on Pir ki Gali. Mughal Road could even be a better access to Kashmir instead of the present Banihal Road because of the sliding rotten mountains between Ramban and Banihal. All these areas need tunnels for access in winter. Compared to the Zojila tunnel, these would be much shorter and cheaper to construct. However, all depends upon the authorities who are supposed to accord priorities to various development works. Incidentally, during last few years more than couple of thousand crores have been spent on various Tourism Development Authorities, Golf Courses and Cable Cars. No doubt Tourism is an important sector of the economy but normally, welfare of all citizens should be the top most priority. Let us hope, with the start of work on the Zojila tunnel, the other projects would also get due consideration!