31-member Parliamentary delegation to visit valley

SRINAGAR — A Parliamentary delegation comprising 31 delegates will arrive in Kashmir tomorrow (Wednesday) to review the Tourism, Culture, Road and Transport sectors in the valley.

Special Secretary to the Government and Secretary Tourism, Sarmad Hafeez confirmed the visit of the Parliamentary Delegation and said the guests will meet the officials from Tourism department and other stakeholders associated with the department.

The Parliamentary Panel is scheduled to meet with stakeholders on leading aspects of Road sector, Tourism, Travel and Hospitality sector, in addition to a meeting with officials of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and J&K UT Government on ‘role of highways in nation building.’

Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, P K Pole said: “The 31-member Parliamentary delegation will be visiting Kashmir valley tomorrow, the delegation will review the Road, Air, and Railway connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir.”

The committee was also looking into the Tourism and Cultural promotions in the valley. Pertinent to mention is that Srinagar-Jammu National highway is a vital surface link between Kashmir and rest of the country which frequently gets closed in winters due to heavy snowfall, landslides and shooting stones, which also results in delay of essential supplies and other commodities to the valley.

All the successive governments have so far failed to find alternatives to the crises that result from the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway in the 70-year-plus history of Kashmir.

To curb the road connectivity crises, Government of India approved implementation of projects for four-laning of the mountainous Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

The road widening project has failed to complete despite missing several deadlines.

Earlier, National Highway Authorities also confirmed that work on four-laning of Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was stopped at many places and excavation work was also halted in the areas which proved vulnerable. They further said they are exploring the options of Tunnels and Wide-ups on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.