Infrastructure boost for Kashmir! From highest railway line to longest tunnel, check upcoming projects

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New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir is all set to get a huge infrastructure boost! The central government is all set to upgrade the infrastructure sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Several big infrastructure and transport projects have been already been proposed by the government and some have already been approved. 

The government has proposed satellite townships, Light Rail Transit System (LRTS) corridors etc, railway line, Zojila Pass tunnel and more in Jammu & Kashmir region. The citizens will witness the development across different sectors in the region in the coming months. 

Take a look at some of the upcoming infrastructure projects in Jammu and Kashmir:

1. Soon, Jammu, as well as, Kashmir will have an elevated Mass Rapid Transit system MRTS). The corridors for the Light Rail Transit System (LRTS) have also been finalized. Jammu will get two LRTS corridors. The 17-km-long corridor I will connect Bantalab to Greater Kailash. It will have 17 stations. The 6-km-long corridor II, on the other hand, will connect Udheywala to Exhibition ground.

2. Srinagar will also have two corridors. The 12.5-km-long corridor I will connect HMT Junction to Indra Nagar and it will cover 12 stations. The 12.5-km-long corridor II will connect Osmanabad to Hazuri Bagh. For the futuristic development of Srinagar and Jammu, the Metropolitan Regional Development Authorities (MRDAs) have been set up. Satellite townships with 50,000 new houses each are being developed in Greater Srinagar and Greater Jammu. These new townships will have million sq ft IT parks.

3. The Bilaspur-Manali-Leh railway line will also improve connectivity. The corridor consisting of total 30 stations will connect a wide-network of the locations en route such as Karu, Upshi, Darcha, Koksar, Keylong, Manali, Mandi and Sundernagar in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Once complete, the 465-km railway line will be the world’s highest railway track. 52 per cent of the total 465 km length will pass through tunnels. The longest tunnel will be 27 km long. The total length of the tunnels is expected to be around 244 km.

4. The Cabinet last year approved the construction, operation and maintenance of 2-lane bi-directional Zojila Tunnel with Parallel Escape (Egress) Tunnel excluding approaches on Srinagar-Leh section connecting NH-1A at Km 95.00 in Jammu & Kashmir. The 14 km-long tunnel will be India’s longest road tunnel and Asia’s longest bidirectional tunnel. The tunnel will be an engineering marvel, a first of its kind in such geographical area.

It will have all modern technical safety arrangements such as cut and cross ventilation system, two axial fans, fully transverse ventilation system, uninterrupted power supply, CCTV monitoring, variable messaging boards, traffic logging equipment, tunnel radio, emergency telephone system etc. The construction of this tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh 

5. The signature Dal Lake will also be restored. The government is planning to improve and beautify the lighting, footpath and waterbody. Apart from this, a world-class musical fountain is also proposed for the tourists. Srinagar and Jammu will also get pollution-free with e-Buses.