Shopian, Jul 3: When Shuja Sultan set out with his children for a picnic to Peer Ki Gali last week, he expected nothing more than a pleasant day in the mountains. Instead, the return journey turned into an anxious ordeal after a cloudburst triggered landslides that blocked the historic Mughal Road.
Sultan, a resident of Pulwama , waited inside his vehicle for several hours as authorities worked to clear the debris. As darkness fell, his anxiety grew—not because of the road closure alone, but because he had no way to contact his family, who were worried about his whereabouts.
“There is no mobile connectivity along the road. Since I couldn’t inform my family, I decided to drive to Poonch and spend the night there until the road was reopened,” Sultan said.
He said that had there been mobile network coverage, he would have stayed near the blocked stretch and waited for the road to reopen instead of making the long detour.
“Driving to Poonch was difficult because my vehicle was running low on fuel,” he said.
The 84-km Mughal Road, which connects Shopian in south Kashmir with Poonch and Rajouri in the Jammu region, is increasingly being used by tourists and commuters, particularly during the summer months. However, long stretches of the road remain without mobile connectivity and other basic roadside facilities, posing challenges during emergencies.
Residents, traders and civil society members from Shopian say the lack of communication facilities is discouraging people from using the route and affecting local businesses that depend on tourist and commuter traffic.
“The absence of mobile connectivity is impacting the movement of people along the road. In emergencies, travellers cannot even call for help,” said Mitha Gatoo, a civil society member from Shopian.
Gatoo said the issue was raised during a recent review meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, where local representatives sought seamless mobile connectivity along the entire stretch.
“We have been assured that the matter will be addressed. We hope the road will soon have uninterrupted mobile connectivity,” he said.
A shopkeeper from Heerpora, the last habitation on the Shopian side of the road, said improving mobile coverage and developing basic wayside amenities such as fuel stations, emergency assistance centres and public conveniences would make travel safer and encourage more tourists to use the route.
“We appeal to the government to provide mobile connectivity and essential facilities along the Mughal Road so that travellers can travel safely and local businesses can benefit,” he said.
