Srinagar, Feb 9: Congress legislator Ghulam Ahmad Mir on Monday said recognition of the Anantnag–Kapran–Desa–Doda Road by the Jammu and Kashmir government would pave the way for its declaration as a highway, a move he said could provide a reliable alternative to the Srinagar–Jammu National Highway.
Raising the issue in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Mir said the Union Territory continues to depend on a single surface link – NH-44 to connect Kashmir with Jammu, despite its vulnerability to landslides and repeated weather-related disruptions.
“We have only one surface link, NH-44, and its condition is before the whole world,” Mir said. “Even after 12 years, the Srinagar–Jammu highway remains unstable. The Banihal–Ramban stretch gets washed away repeatedly as happened during last year’s monsoon, forcing closures and making the road unreliable.”
Mir said the Anantnag-Kapran-Desa-Doda Road already exists and can serve as an effective alternative corridor linking south Kashmir with the Chenab Valley and Jammu.
He said proposals for the road were first sent to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in 2013–14 and have again been forwarded by Member of Parliament Mian Altaf and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
“The ministry has written back that the UT government must first recognise this road,” Mir told the House. “Once that is done, it will pave the way for its declaration as a highway.”
Mir said the UT administration has already identified eight to nine roads for transfer to the National Highway network and urged the government to include the Anantnag–Kapran–Desa–Doda project in the current budget and complete all required formalities this year.
Welcoming the Prime Minister’s sanction of the Lakhimpora–Basoli–Bani–Baderwah–Doda Road, Mir said the project would benefit the region and expressed hope that the Anantnag–Kapran route would also be developed as an extension of that network.
“This is the shortest possible road connecting south Kashmir with the Chenab Valley and Jammu,” he said. “Being a hard-rock road, it is less prone to landslides, shooting stones and avalanches.”
Mir said the road would benefit fruit growers, traders, pilgrims and defence movement, and could be used for fruit transportation, religious yatras and logistics.
In a letter written last year to Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Mir described the Anantnag–Kapran–Desa–Doda road as being of “strategic and national importance” and sought its declaration as a National Highway, followed by preparation of a detailed project report by the National Highways Authority of India.
“The road can serve as a reliable all-weather alternative to NH-44, which remains highly vulnerable to frequent landslides,” the letter said, adding that the corridor would strengthen connectivity between south Kashmir and the Chenab Valley.
He urged the Centre to either declare the road a State Highway and hand it over to the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. or notify it directly as a National Highway under the National Highways Authority of India.
On the Kashmir side, the road is motorable beyond Hengipora up to Habal Mundu in Kapran. On the Jammu side, it extends only up to Manjami in Desa, forcing residents to trek several kilometers’ to reach Doda town.
