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| Jammu-Jallandhar: nightmarish highway | | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 21: Highways are identity of a nation but the one that connects Jammu and Kashmir with rest of the country is quite shabby in outlook. No milestones are visible between Jammu and Jalandhar. Whereever there are some mile stones the distances inscribed on them are not readable. Their appearance is sooty .But from Jalandhar the sign boards, mileage of one place to the other inscribed in green, greet the passengers. They are displayed in such a way as one gets a feeling that they are arches set up for ruling political leaders.
The National highway link between Jammu and Jalandhar, especially upto Pathankot, continues to be a nightmare for the drivers and the passengers. It is bumpy because the work on the construction of the 6-lane express highway has not been completed. The work on the highway between Jammu and Pathankot has been going on for the last four years but there are no signs of completion of the project within next one year. When agencies, entrusted with the task of building the 6-lane highway, were asked about the delay in the completion of the project they said there were two factors. First the terrain was difficult.” We have to first flatten high mounds of hard clay and then build the road,” said a couple of labourers. Besides this time was taken by the culverts and bridges which were being built on the highway between Jammu and Pathankot. Secondly funds for the project were being released in small measures.
It takes atleast 12 hours to reach Delhi from Jammu. However several bus and car drivers were confident that once the 6-lane highway was ready between Jammu and Jalandhar it may take not more than nine hours to cover Jammu-Delhi distance. In support of their argument they said that on an average it takes more than seven hours to reach Ludhiana from Jammu when the same distance between Ludhiana to Delhi is covered in five hours.
Well Jammu is the gateway of tourist attraction in the Kashmir valley. A such the highway between Jammu and Delhi should have a panoramic view. It is not. Once you travel from Jammu you are greeted by dozens of wayside townlets which are dirty. These townlets give an appearance of roadside workshops. It seems as if devastation has hit Gangyal, Bari Brahmna, Vijaypur, Samba, Pathankot, Mukerian,Tanda, Khanna, Mandi Gobindgarh and Ludhiana. Since a number of flyovers, some with of more than seven kms,have been built between Jalandhar and Panipat the dusty villages on either side of the old highway are no longer discernible. They stand hidden behinbd the flyovers.
On the GT road number of rich farmers have built marriage palaces. Some of them have the appearance of four-star hotels. But when compared to Jammu the state's winter capital has the highest number of Janj Ghars where not only wedding ceremonies are held but small parties too. In Jammu these wedding halls have been built in areas which have no parking place. But between Karnal and Delhi one finds scores of farm houses where marriage ceremonies are held.The rise in the number of these farm houses has added to traffic woes. This has led to traffic jams and no agency comes to the rescue of bus and car drivers who either are keen to reach Delhi or eager to cover the distance to Jammu as early as possible.
It is rural environment right from Jammu to Jalandhar. One expects the Jammu and Kashmir Government to take in hand beautification of the highy from Jammu to Pathankot. Besides this the Lakhanpur barrier need not given an impression of a parking place for trucks. The border barrier fetches several hundred crores of revenue to the state and part of this revenue could be spent on the beautification of the border belt. Should Jammu Kashmir,Punjab and Haryana have uniform policy on toll tax ?Yes it should be because there is a lot of variation. At Lakhanpur a car driver has to pay Rs.75 against Rs.30 to Rs.45 at other places in Punjab and Haryana.
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