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| Roads buried under avalanches, | | strike cripples life in Kargil, Drass | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Dec 8 : Life remained crippled in shia dominated Kargil and nearby Drass, the second coldest place in the world after Siberia, where people are demanding reopening of Zojila pass, which connects the region with Srinagar.
''We continued our peaceful protest for the second day today against the government's decision to close the 434-km-long Srinagar- Leh national highway when the weather is dry,'' Imam Khomani Memorial Trust (IKMT) chairman Asgar Ali Karbalayee told over phone from Kargil.
He said all shops and business establishments are closed in Kargil and Drass besides other far flung areas in protest against the government decision.
However, we have decided not to take out any procession today following assurance by the District Administration to visit the Zojila before taking any final decision.
The officials of the administration and a group of people from Kargil, who are heading the present agitation, will visit Zojila tomorrow, Mr Karbalayee said adding the final decision will be taken only after verifying the condition of the road.
He strongly condemned yesterday's police action on peaceful processionists including woman, children and elderly persons.
We only demand that the highway should remain open till the weather permits as the people in Kargil, Drass and other areas are facing acute shortage of essentials.
He challenged the government's claim about enough stock of essential and said there is acute shortage of all essentials.
Karbalayee said there is no meat, rice, pulses, vegetables and other things in Kargil, he alleged, adding the situation in other far-flung and remote areas was more worse.
''We are demanding that Zojila should be kept open till weather permits, he said, adding the weather is dry and is safe for traffic movement.
He said people of the Kargil and Drass wanted that the road should be kept open so that essentials are transported there.
Karbalayee said people of the region are demanding construction of tunnel at Zojila to make the 434-km-long Srinagar- Leh national highway all weather road.
''We have been listening that tunnel will be constructed for the past one decade but on the ground nothing has been done so far,'' he said.
…Wait for 2014
Work on the strategic Rohtang Tunnel that will ensure all weather road connectivity to Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir will begin early next year and be completed by 2014, more than three decades after it took shape on the drawing board.
The nine-kilometre horseshoe shaped tunnel that will help connect the Ladakhi capital Leh to Manali in Himachal Pradesh will be at a height of 3,000-3,100 metres and one of the highest in the world, officials said.
"The tunnel is important to maintain supply lines to the forward posts in Ladakh and Siachen Glacier," said an official of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
The contract for the tunnel was awarded on Sep 24 this year after the Cabinet Committee on Security approved it, he said. Though conceived in 1983, the foundation stone was laid years later in 2000 by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000.
It took another nine years for the next step to be taken.
"The contract has been awarded to Afcon Infrastructure in collaboration with European firm Strabag in September. The work would begin early next year (2010) and be completed in 2014," the BRO official told a news gathering agency on condition of anonymity.
The project, estimated to cost around Rs.1,500 crore ($3.2 billion), would have to overcome vagaries of nature like heavy snowfall, high velocity winds and sub-zero temperatures. It's a tough job, beginning from building access roads to the tunnel site.
"Work is running full throttle to complete the roads leading up to the tunnel site. Initially, only access roads with minimum necessary specifications for the mobilisation of resources will be constructed. Later, the same will be developed to National Highway Double Lane specifications and will then be called the approach road," the official added.
Burrowed below the Rohtang Pass at 3,978 metres, the tunnel will ensure that the pass connecting the strategically important regions bordering China will remain open year round. Presently, the route is closed during the winter months from November to April due to heavy snowfall.
It will provide an all-weather alternative road to Ladakh region in Jammu and Kashmir and the Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh.
Besides, the 475 km distance between Manali and Leh in Jammu and Kashmir will be reduced by 40 km.
With China constructing a rail line near the India-China border, New Delhi is also firming up projects to revamp border infrastructure in the region. The main thrust is on increasing connectivity whether by road or by air, officials said.
The government is also planning to refurbish over 20 advanced landing grounds in the region which could then be used for boosting tourism in the region and to maintain supply to the troops in forward areas.
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