Delhi-Srinagar highway will increase tourist arrivals in J&K 4-fold: Gadkari

There will be a fourfold rise in the footfall of tourists in Kashmir after the completion of the DelhiJammuSrinagar highway Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has saidThe minister for road highways and transport on Tuesday inspected a 924metrelong BanihalQazigund tunnel which will bypass a nearly threekm landslide and accidentprone area in Ramban district and various road projects in the Union territoryThe completion of the tunnel will bring much relief to travellers by bypassing a nearly threekm landslide and accidentprone area in the Ramban districtFlanked by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Union ministers Jitendra Singh and Gen VK Singh Gadkari also conducted a breakthrough of Sita Rama Passi Maroog via virtual mode through a controlled blast in the tunnelAfter completion of this road in the next two years the tourist arrival in Jammu and Kashmir will increase over 4 times That will increase the number of resorts and restaurants 9 in the Union territory Gadkari told reporters after an inspection of the tunnelAlso Read Antinational forces put Sisodia Satyendar Jain in jail Delhi CM KejriwalThe minister expressed confidence that after the completion of road projects there will be a huge development people will get employment and poverty will be eradicated in the Union territoryThe lifeline highway will have socioeconomic benefits to Jammu and KashmirIn Jammu and Kashmir we are constructing road projects at a cost of Rs 125 lakh crore There are 20 to 22 proposals of ropeways and cable cars worth Rs 2500030000 crore that we are doing It will have a 4fold increase in the tourism of Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir will be selfreliant and prosperous he saidReferring to the work on the highways he said there will be three roads being constructed between Jammu and SrinagarOne of five tunnels with a length of 45 kilometres has been inaugurated today The other three tunnels will be open by next year One tunnel given to TATA will take some time for completionReferring to the express highway he said that a tunnel project has been given to TATAIt will take some time After completion the distance will be restricted to three hours From Katra it will be direct travel to Delhi The travel time from Delhi to Srinagar will be 8 hours and six hours travel time from Delhi to Katra From Delhi to Mumbai the travel time will be 12 hours the minister saidResponding to the locals demands for employment he said We are building a resort where we can put handloom and handicrafts products of locals for display It will give employment to 500 to 600 peopleHe also said that 99 per cent of the tunnel staff has been employed locallyWe will keep trying that local youth get jobs in other tunnels too and Jammu and Kashmir becomes selfreliant in terms of economic growth he addedGadkari also said that he always mentions the former American presidents remark America is rich because American roads are goodGadkari inspected highways the Banihal bypass and the PeeraChanderkote tunnelEvery tunnel saves time Today this tunnel was completedanother tunnel will be completed soon Within two months it will also be started he saidThe tunnel is part of the ongoing fourlaning of the 270km JammuSrinagar national highway the only allweather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the countryThe tunnel bypasses the most vulnerable stretch of Panthyal in the Ramban districtThe work on the fourlaning project started in 2011 and includes a number of small and major tunnels bridges and flyovers The project is likely to be completed by the next year after missing several deadlines over the past decadeAsked about the second tube T2 of the Kunfer tunnel he said it will be ready within two monthsThe completion of these projects will not only help resolve the issue of traffic jams on the highway to a large extent but will also cut down the distance between different points by several kilometresTo ease the travel between Jammu and Srinagar 3 corridors are being built at a cost of Rs 35000 crore Under this the first corridor from Jammu to UdhampurRambanBanihal and further to Srinagar Gadkari saidThis 4lane road of 250 km length is being built at a cost of Rs 16000 crore Out of this 4laning of 210 km route has been completed including 10 tunnels of 215 km he saidThe minister also said that the government is constructing a multimodel hub of world standard at Katra the base camp of the cave shrine of Mata VaishnodeviIt will be an attraction for the world It has got a beautiful design We are also going there he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever