Ramban: The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has finally started rock stabilisation works at various vulnerable landslide-prone places of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
This work has begun on the stretches, where earth excavation work for road widening work to convert two-lane highways into four-lane, between Nashri and Banihal has recently been completed.
Engineers of contractor companies engaged for rock stabilization, rock bolting and net laying works are hopeful that after the completion of this work (rock stabilization), apprehensions of rock slides and shooting stones from hillocks alongside the highway will end.
Engineers said that rock stabilization work at different vulnerable locations would have a positive impact vis-à-vis the safety of vehicle operators and travellers by reducing the risks of rock sliding and shooting stones.
“It will also help in the improvement of road connectivity to the valley of Kashmir with the rest of the country,” they said.
Incidents of rock slides and shooting stones from hills slopes not only result in frequent closure of the Srinagar Jammu National Highway but also consume the precious lives of travellers and vehicle operators between the Nashri and Banihal sectors of the highway.
In the latest incident on September 11, 2023, four persons died after huge boulders hit a valley-bound truck and pushed it into the Bisleri Nullah in the Silhad-Sherbibi area of Banihal on NH-44.
Before it, on June 13, 2023, a rolling stone hit a moving car, bearing registration number PB99-9993, on the Mehar-Cafeteria stretch resulting in the death of a minor Arsha Devi 12, daughter of Shamsher Singh resident of Amritsar, Punjab.
On April 19, 2023, a valley-bound moving truck JK13D-1730 was hit by shooting stones at Digdool resulting in the death of the driver of the truck Maqsood Ahmed and his companion Nabeed Ahmed, both residents of district Pulwama.
On March 7, 2020, a valley-bound car, bearing registration number JK01AA-9863, was hit by shooting stones, resulting in the death of one Waseem Azad, a resident of Srinagar while his cousin Manzoor Azad had sustained injuries.
Several such incidents in which shooting stones hit and injured occupants of vehicles while travelling on the Srinagar Jammu National Highway through Ramban district were reported in the past few years.
The hilly and mountainous terrain along the highway, especially between Nashri to Banihal, is prone to landslides, rockslides and shooting stones which can occur suddenly and pose a significant danger to vehicle operators, travellers and road users.
Earlier, last week on the recommendations of authorities for safeguarding the life and property of those travelling on the Srinagar Jammu National Highway, vehicular traffic was suspended to remove hanging boulders at the Hassanbass area of Ramsu.
According to locals, there are several places where the threat of shooting stone persists, especially during inclement weather where excavation work for converting a two-lane highway into a four-lane has been carried out.
Officials had said that four-lane project work between Udhampur and Banihal was challenging due to terrain and due to persistent adverse weather conditions. Rock stabilization, hill slope protection and netting would help reduce incidents of rock slides, shooting stones and frequent landslides on the most vulnerable stretches between Nashri and Banihal in the Ramban district.
Deputy Commissioner Ramban Mussarat Islam, who is personally monitoring the progress of ongoing works of various national projects in the Ramban district, has directed the NHAI to maintain the road properly.
Earlier project Director NHAI, PIU, Ramban Purshotam Kumar had told Greater Kashmir that once the work on bridges or viaducts was completed, NHAI would go for hill protection or netting at vulnerable stretches.