Road project connecting Shri Amarnath shrine to get approval in 2023, says LG

The Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha expressed confidence Thursday that a road project connecting the Amarnath cave shrine will be approved this year as the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation has completed its preliminary project report.

Once the road is built, pilgrims from across the country and Jammu and Kashmir will be able to visit and pay obeisance at the cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas, Sinha said.

“There was an unfortunate incident during the yatra last year. I myself visited the yatra route. I have tried and I am confident that (Amarnath) route can be constructed the way the road for the Char Daam Yatra has been constructed,” Sinha said.

The lieutenant governor was addressing a gathering at a Maha Shivratri fair at the Jagti migrant camp here.
He said the route would start from Pahalgam via Panjtarni and Sangam top to Baltal. “Government of India’s NHIDCL has made its preliminary report. I am assured that this year, the road (project) will be approved,” he said.

The LG said the project will be completed within four to five years.
The Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways has assigned the construction of the ‘Sheshnag Tunnel’ on the Khanabal-Baltal section of NH-501 to the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).

The NHIDCL has invited Request for Proposals (RFP) and the bidding will start from February 13. The due date for bidding is February 20.
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arlier, LG said his administration accords top priority to the security of Kashmiri Pandits and will always stand by them.

He said he wishes that the day comes when the community members will return to their homes in the Valley as they have suffered a lot in the past over three decades.

“The salaries of employees including PM package employees and minority (Dogra) employees, who have joined back their services in Kashmir, have been released,” Sinha said addressing a function in connection with a three-day-long Shivratri mela at Jagti migrant township on the outskirts of the city.

He said the Jammu Kashmir administration will always stand by the community.

“Your safety is our top priority and we are taking all possible measures to ensure that. This is the commitment of the government of India and the prime minister,” the Lt Governor said.

He said he wants accommodations for Kashmiri Pandit employees to be completed soon so that they live there without any difficulty and perform their duties.

“You have suffered a lot for three decades. I pray that the day will come when you return to your homes with honour,” Sinha said.

The Lt Governor also said progress has been made for construction of housing units for PM package employees in Kashmir.

Earlier, it was difficult to get land for construction of 6,000 dwellings but now land has been identified and except for two sites, the work is in full swing, he said.

“As many as 1,200 dwellings will be handed over by April and by December more than 2,500 dwellings would be handed over,” he added.

On the occasion, Sinha visited Kashmiri Pandits in three migrant camps of Muthi, Butanagar and Jagti to review arrangements for the Maha Shivratri festival.

“Kashmiri Pandit brothers and sisters living in different parts of the country and the world have kept their tradition alive,” he said.

Sinha also talked about initiatives of the administration for extension of seamless public service delivery to Kashmiri Pandit community members at their doorsteps.

LG further said launched forest resource management center (FRMC) and national transit pass system (NTPS), emphasising on the use of technology in forest protection and climate change mitigation.

He said the new state-of-the-art facility and the technological advancements will go a long way in ensuring the required protection and management of the forests in the Union Territory.

The FRMC has been planned to scale up the use of modern technology such as GIS, remote sensing and digital tools like mobile applications in protection and management of forests, Sinha said.

He said the FRMC will also play a key role in digitalisation of forest boundaries as well as in management of forests through geo-reference-based information and mapping.

“J-K is the third Union Territory to implement the national transit pass system in the country. It replaces manual paper-based transit system by online transit system, promotes agro-forestry activities that will in turn help in increasing farmers’ income,” the Lt Governor said.

In “Amrit Kaal”, our aim is to integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into development planning and work in a holistic manner for clean air, fresh water, biodiversity conservation and mitigation of human-wild animal conflict, Sinha said.

With GIS-mapping and ground-based digitisation, we can effectively tackle the challenge of encroachment, he said.
Sinha hailed the forest department for digitisation of demarcated forests at beat, block, range and division levels.