Mughal Road gets tunnel, Omar Abdullah says ‘major achievement of my govt'
SRINAGAR: The Union government's approval on Monday of 19 major road and tunnel projects worth Rs 10,637 crore, including a key tunnel on the historical Mughal Road linking Shopian, in the Kashmir Valley, with Poonch in Jammu, has caused widespread excitement across Kashmir.
The proposed Peer Ki Gali tunnel, which will turn the 84-km Mughal Road into an all-weather road providing a crucial alternative to the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, has excited political leaders across the board. 'It is a major achievement of my government,' Jammu and Kashmir chief minister
Omar Abdullah
said.
Construction of a modern road on the old Mughal Road began in the 1970s, during the government of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, but the project saw little progress.
It was revived in 2003 under Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's government, and by 2009 traffic was allowed during the tenure of Omar Abdullah. Though the road is now operational, it remains open only during summer as heavy snowfall on the key stretches of Peer Ki Gali and Bafliaz forces its closure in winter.
Over the past eight months the National Conference government has been pushing for the tunnel project on the Mughal Road.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Stunning 2-Bed Senior Houses: Take A Peek Inside!
Senior Houses | Search Ads
Undo
'We have been working hard on this and held several rounds of discussions with government of India, particularly the ministry of road transport and highways. Finally, these major projects have been sanctioned,' CM Omar Abdullah told TOI. 'The tunnel on the Mughal Road is of crucial importance as it will provide year-round connectivity between Kashmir and Jammu.
It holds both strategic and commercial value.'
Omar said that ever since he first drove on the Mughal Road in 2009, his party and his government have been advocating for construction of a tunnel.
'We've been pursuing this for years, and I am glad it has finally received approval,' he said.
Among the sanctioned projects is also the Sadhana Tunnel, which will connect Kupwara with the border region of Karnah, at an estimated cost of Rs 3,330 crore. Omar said he will also pursue a tunnel project for Gurez Valley in north Kashmir and intends to raise the matter with the Union government.
The Mughal Road also holds historical significance.
It was used by Mughal emperors in the 16th century to enter Kashmir. Emperor Akbar took this route to conquer the region in 1586, and his son, Jahangir, is believed to have died near Rajouri while returning from Kashmir.
In a separate statement issued in Srinagar, both LG Manoj Sinha and Omar thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari for approving these major projects.
National Conference was quick to take credit, stating that 'under the leadership of J&K CM Omar Abdullah our government has successfully convinced government of India to take up key infrastructure projects like the Mughal Road tunnel and the tunnel to Tangdhar.'
A senior NC politician said the projects were sanctioned because J&K's elected government pursued them with the Union government.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
15 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Once a farmland, now making way for an aviation hub: Life in transition near Jewar airport
Nearly two years ago, Usha Kushwaha (32) shifted to Gautam Buddha Nagar's Jewar from Madhya Pradesh's Tikamgarh district, along with her husband Ramesh Kushwaha and their two children — a son and a daughter. A relative had informed them of a boost in employment opportunities near the under-construction Jewar airport. 'There were not many people here when we came… but now there are so many. My husband works at the airport site. It is good money… better than what we had when he (Ramesh) earlier sold vegetables,' says Usha as she moves to cuddle her son, a toddler. In the scorching heat of a summer afternoon, along the dusty roads of Kishorpur village in Jewar, around 30 sweat-soaked labourers walk in queues, clutching their worn-out cloth bags as they make their way to the upcoming Noida International Airport. Trucks loaded with iron rods and concrete move past. On either side of the dusty and dilapidated road, there is a makeshift market and a colony occupied by labourers, where life is in transition. What was once a vast agricultural land is now transforming into an aviation hub. Tushar Baghel, 21, a labourer at the airport site and a resident of Kishorpur, says he earns Rs 17,000 a month. 'They deduct my provident fund also,' he says, taking off his yellow helmet. He joined the site after a contractor informed him about the requirement for labourers. 'I joined about three months ago. I carry iron rods from one place to another,' he says. While some have managed to secure jobs, people like Dharmendra Baghel (48) have also found an opportunity to earn by renting their houses to labourers. Pointing to his four-storeyed house, he says, 'Around 21 labourers are staying here with their families. Many of them are from Bihar and Jharkhand. Some of them are also from Lucknow and Kanpur. They have been here and working for two years. I charge them Rs 2,500 per room.' Meanwhile, the Gautam Buddha Nagar administration began a door-to-door survey from June 2 to study the impact on landholdings, livelihoods, homes, and community resources in 14 villages that will be acquired for the expansion of Noida International Airport in the third and fourth phases. These 14 villages are Thora, Neemka Shahjahanpur, Khwajpur, Ramner, Kishorpur, Banwaribas, Parohi, Muqimpur Shivara, Jewar Bangar, Sabauta Mustafabad, Ahmedpur Chaurauli, Dayanatpur, Bankapur, and Rohi. While the foundation stone of the airport was laid in November 2021, the first and second phases of the land acquisition were completed between 2018 and 2024. When contacted, Abhay Singh, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Jewar, asserts the area will see rapid development once the land is allocated to Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA). 'Those who have been allotted the land will begin the construction, and it is only then that we will see newer developments,' Singh tells The Indian Express. The SDM says that their work is just to carry out the acquisition of the land. 'The land acquisition for Kishorpur is currently ongoing. The entire village will be displaced in the third phase and will be shifted to an area that is still being identified,' he says. Asked if the property rates have seen a significant increase since the announcement of the airport, he replies, 'Very much'. On being asked about the census, he underlines that the administration is collecting the details of people who will be displaced during the third and fourth phases. 'The draft of the rehabilitation and resettlement will be prepared on that basis. A public hearing will be conducted once the draft is published and will take into consideration the objections raised in the hearing, which will be reviewed by the committee formed at the district. Around 10,000 to 12,000 people will likely lose their houses in the third phase, and Kishorpur is the one nearest to the site,' he adds. As the rehabilitation dates inch closer, Yogesh Baghel, 28, a farmer, says, 'We used to carry out farming here. Now, instead of our fields, we see the boundary line. We cannot even go to the place which was once ours. The boundary has limited our world.' Suresh, 55, who goes by a single name, says three generations of his family have lived in the area. 'Last Monday, the officials came for a survey. Everything has changed. Initially, we had thought that our lands might not go. People fought cases. Some people got jobs at the airport. Officials have told us that they will settle us within three years from now,' he says. Neetika Jha is a Correspondent with The Indian Express. She covers crime, health, environment as well as stories of human interest, in Noida, Ghaziabad and western UP. When not on the field she is probably working on another story idea. On weekends, she loves to read fiction over a cup of coffee. The Thursday Murder club, Yellow Face and Before the Coffee Gets Cold were her recent favourites. She loves her garden as much as she loves her job. She is an alumnus of Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. ... Read More
Hindustan Times
19 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Sanskrit got lion's share of language promotion funds: RTI data
The central government spent ₹ 2532.59 crore on the promotion of Sanskrit between 2014-15 and 2024-25, 17 times the combined spending of ₹ 147.56 crore on the other five classical Indian languages –– Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia, according to the data obtained by Hindustan Times through a Right to Information (RTI) application and from public records. Government spent ₹ 2532.59 crore on the promotion of Sanskrit between 2014-15 and 2024-25 (HT Photo) That works out to ₹ 230.24 crore every year (on average) for Sanskrit and ₹ 13.41 crore every year for the other five. Tamil, the highest-funded among the five classical Indian languages, received less than 5% of Sanskrit's total funding, Kannada and Telugu each received less than 0.5%, and Odia and Malayalam each received under 0.2% of Sanskrit's total allocation. Tamil, the first language to be designated as 'a 'classical' language in 2004 received ₹ 113.48 crore under Grants for Promotion of Indian Languages (GPIL) scheme, 22 times less than the amount spent on promotion of Sanskrit which was given the same status in 2005. The combined funding of the remaining four Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and Odia which received classical language status between 2008 and 2014, was ₹ 34.08 crore. To be sure, the spending on Sanskrit exceeded that on Urdu, Hindi, and Sindhi too (although none of these is recognised as a classical language). The combined funding for Hindi, Urdu and Sindhi between 2014-15 and 2024-25 was ₹ 1,317.96 crore, roughly 52.04% of the amount spent on Sanskrit. In this period, Urdu individually received ₹ 837.94 crore, Hindi, ₹ 426.99 crore, and Sindhi, ₹ 53.03 crore. According to the 2011 census, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Odia, and Kannada speakers together accounted for 21.99% of India's total population of 1.2 billion. The proportion of Sanskrit speakers was negligible. Hindi speakers (those who listed the language as their mother tongue) accounted for 43.63%, and Urdu speakers, 4.19%. In March, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin condemned the promotion of Sanskrit and Hindi in the state while calling for practical measures to support Tamil culture. '...Rather than installing Sengol in Parliament, uninstall Hindi from Union Government offices in Tamil Nadu. Instead of hollow praise, make Tamil an official language on par with Hindi and allot more funds for Tamil than a dead language like Sanskrit,' he said. In October 2024 five more languages , Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bengali were recognized as classical languages through a Gazette notification, taking the total number of such languages to 11. The details of the funds used to promote these languages were not immediately available. 'Classical languages are regarded as the custodians of India's ancient and profound cultural legacy, preserving the rich history, literature, and traditions of their respective communities. By conferring this status, the government seeks to honour and protect the linguistic milestones of Bharat's diverse cultural landscape, ensuring that future generations can access and appreciate the deep historical roots of these languages,' the central government said in a statement in October 2024. While the ministry of home affairs (MHA) initially granted classical status to Tamil and Sanskrit in 2004 and 2005 respectively, the ministry of culture took over the responsibility for further implementations and future recognition of classical languages. The ministry of education (MoE) is responsible for promotion of these languages through different councils, institutes and universities. MoE also supports promotion of scheduled languages such as Hindi, Urdu and Sindhi. In the union budget 2025-26, the government has announced Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme (BBPS) to provide textbooks being taught at every level of school and higher education in 22 Indian languages in digital form. There are 22 scheduled languages in India including 9 classical languages. Pali and Prakrit are the only two classical languages which are not there in the list of scheduled languages. HT reached out to The Ministry of Education but did not receive a response till Monday evening. Professor Syed Imtiaz Hasnain, retired professor of sociolinguistics, department of linguistics at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) said 'Sanskrit is largely used for religious purposes but it occupies a sanctified place in the larger imagination of common masses,' adding that this could be one reason for the 'disproportionate funding.' The government promotes Sanskrit Language through three Central Sanskrit Universities (CSU) established by Central Sanskrit Universities Act, 2020 and located in New Delhi and Tirupati by providing funds to them for teaching and research in Sanskrit Language leading to award of degree, diploma, certificate to students. The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru works for the promotion of all Indian languages including four classical languages – Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Odia. CIIL with its seven regional language centres across the country also helps in implementation of the Union government's language policy and conducts training programmes for school teachers of different languages.
Time of India
22 minutes ago
- Time of India
House in Mumbai: Richest 5% need 109 years' savings
Even for the top 5% of urban families by income in Maharashtra, buying a house in Mumbai would take more than 100 years of saving to fund. In Haryana and Odisha, it would take over 50 years of saving by the richest 5% to buy a house in their biggest cities. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Chandigarh, by contrast, is the most affordable capital. These numbers have been arrived at by comparing the income of the top 5% households in a state/UT with average price of a 110sq m (1,184sq ft) house in its capital city - the middle of the three house size categories for which National Housing Board (NHB) compiles data. In 2022-23, India's gross savings to GDP ratio was 30.2%, and the same ratio has been applied to calculate savings of the richest 5% households. The income of the top 5% of urban families is derived from the average Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) of the top 5% of urban folks in a state. The rural MPCE is considerably lower. In Maharashtra, for instance, the urban MPCE for the top 5% is Rs 22,352 per person per month. For a family of four, the income would be Rs 89,408 per month or Rs 10.7 lakh per annum. Applying the 30.2% saving rate to Maharashtra's top 5% families, their annual savings would be around Rs 3.2 lakh. NHB's data on house prices shows that the per square foot price for a house with a carpet area between 645 sq feet and 1,184 sq feet was Rs 29,911 in March 2025. This means a 1,184 square feet house on average cost over Rs 3.5 crore in Mumbai. With a saving of Rs 3.2 lakh per annum, the top 5% urban families of Maharashtra would have to save for 109 years to afford this house. NHB's average carpet area price is based on the registration data collected from sub-registrar offices (SROs) as well as the valuation data collected from primary lending institutions. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A similar calculation shows that for the top 5% urban families in Haryana, it would take 63 years to afford a house of similar size in Gurgaon. In Bhubaneswar, it would take more than 50 years of savings for Odisha's richest 5% urbanites to afford a house. Of the 21 state capitals for which carpet area price data was available from NHB, in 10 it would take more than 30 years of savings to buy a house. Chandigarh is the most affordable, as 15 years of savings will be enough to buy a 1,184 square feet house. Jaipur is the only other city where less than 20 years of savings would suffice.
