J&K CM reviews highway, expressway, tunnel projects

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah yesterday chaired a high-level review meeting to assess the progress of key national highway, expressway and tunnel projects across the Union Territory. The meeting stressed the need to identify bottlenecks and enhance inter-agency coordination to ensure time-bound and efficient execution of vital infrastructure works. 

The CM was briefed on the status of major infrastructure projects being executed by NHAI, NHIDCL, BRO and the PWD. Secretary, Public Works (R&B), Bhupinder Kumar gave a comprehensive presentation, informing that approximately a dozen major highway corridors and one expressway, spanning over 1800 kilometres, are currently in various



stages of execution. 

These include strategically important routes such as Jammu-Srinagar National Highway NH44, Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch NH-144A and the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway NE-5, among others. The meeting also reviewed 12 major tunnel projects, including the Zoji La Tunnel, Z-Morh Tunnel, Panthal-Magarkote Tunnel, and other projects, many of which are in the advanced stages of construction. 

The CM also reviewed security-related constraints in certain stretches and instructed the concerned departments to ensure that project activities remain on schedule with adequate coordination with security agencies.