Widening of Jammu-Srinagar highway to be completed by end of next year

The widening of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, would be completed within one-and-a-half years, a senior government official has said.

Finance Commissioner, Revenue, Pawan Kotwal, who is also the nodal officer of the National Highway four-laning project, said the 8.5-km Banihal-Qazigund tunnel on the road is near completion and would be thrown open for public soon.

The highway widening work started in 2011 with the target of completing it within five years. With the four-laning of the highway, travel time would get reduced by half as the distance would