Border Roads Organisation (BRO) chief Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan participated on May 14 at a ceremony organised at Sungal along the Jammu-Poonch national highway. The ceremony was regarding a significant milestone of BRO workers breaking through the 2.79-km Sungal tunnel. A break through is achieved in any tunnel when both ends get opened and one can move from one end to the other. It can take days, months, and years of boring work to get to this point.
Speaking to reporters, Lt Gen Srinivasan expressed the hope that this strategically important project will be completed on time within the next couple of years, by 2026. Sungal tunnel, connecting Akhnoor and Poonch, is the second of the four tunnels on NH 144-A, also called Golden Arc Road, having achieved this milestone after 700-metre Nowshera tunnel in January this year. Work is on right now on two other tunnels, the 1.1-kilometre Bhimber Gali tunnel and the 260-metre Kandi tunnel, on this road.
At present, it takes about eight hours to travel 200 km on the Akhnoor-Poonch road. However, this travelling time will get reduced to four hours once all four tunnels are in place and the widening of the road is over, according to officials. It bears mention here that till about two decades ago, the Akhnoor-Poonch road was open barely for 8 to 10 hours per day. However, the security forces have ensured enhanced security on this road, and the vehicles now ply 24x7x365 on this road, barring disruptions caused by landslips.
“This is a great moment for all of us as the Jammu-Poonch link is on track for completion in the next couple of years,” Lt Gen Srinivasan said at the Sungal tunnel. The border areas of Poonch, Rajouri, and Akhnoor have vital installations, and better connectivity is expected to enhance defence preparedness, he added. He stressed that the BRO believes in the adage `Roads build the nations’ and that roads, through better connectivity, spur socio-economic development.
Speaking about the Shri Amarnath yatra, which begins next month on June 29, Lt Gen Srinivasan said the pilgrims can expect to have a more comfortable journey on the treks. This has happened as the BRO has undertaken massive construction, widening, and strengthening of the treks. The pilgrimage to the holy Shri Amanath cave, located at a height of 3,880 metres, is undertaken on two routes.
The traditional older route is located in south Kashmir and starts from Pahalgam. The Pahalgam-Nunwan-Chandanbari route is 45 kilometre and it takes days to complete the pilgrimage on this trek. The pilgrims have to make overnight halts at some locations on this trek where temporary tent accommodation is available. The other route is much shorter, only 15 km via Baltal (in Ganderbal district), but it is considered a more treacherous route because of more steep slopes.
“I am back from the Baltal (base camp). Last year, we were assigned with the task of widening the track which was important for the safety of the devotees. We have completed the widening work and also covered the surface with blocks and attended curves and slopes,” Lt Gen Srinivasan said on the sidelines of tunnel breakthrough ceremony.
Since shooting stones is a major challenge on some stretches along the trek, the BRO has undertaken extensive work related to sidewalls and putting protective railings in place. Drainage works have also been undertaken so that excess rainwater does not disrupt the pilgrimage, he explained. The DG of BRO said that his agency had become “an agency of choice’’ for being tasks of road building in inaccessible and difficult terrain all over the country.
