The Jammu and Kashmir government today said it was keenly pursuing with the Centre the construction of a tunnel along the Mughal road to make it an all-weather road.
The 84-km Mughal road connects the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu with Shopian district in south Kashmir.
The road usually remains closed for vehicular traffic from December to April every year owing to heavy snowfall.
"To make it an all-weather road, a tunnel is required. The state government was pursuing the matter with the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for declaration of the Mughal road as national highway and also for the construction of a tunnel from Chattapani to Zaznar," Minister of Public works department Naeem Akhtar informed the Legislative Assembly.
In a written reply to a question, he said the significance for the construction of the tunnel was repeatedly brought to the notice of the ministry and the issue was flagged by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti during her meeting with concerned union minister on April 12, 2016.
"The chief minister has recurrently posed this matter before the Centre very forcefully," he said.
He said that during a meeting held between union minister for shipping road transport and highways and the chief minister in New Delhi on February 3, 2017 the issue of construction of the tunnel on the Mughal road for providing an all-weather connectivity to Srinagar was again raised.
"Now, tender for the preparation of a detailed project report for construction of the tunnel has been floated by national highway infrastructure development corporation limited at New Delhi. The state government is very keenly following this aspect at various levels in the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highway," he said.
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