BRO eyes Mughal Road’s first-ever mid-winter opening

Rajouri, Jan 30: To restore inter-provincial surface connectivity between Srinagar and Jammu, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has, for the first time, undertaken snow clearance operations on the Mughal Road during the peak winter season.

Traditionally, the Mughal Road used to remain closed for nearly four to six months every winter due to heavy snowfall, with no snow clearance activity being carried out during this period.

Restoration work was usually taken up only after the onset of the summer season.

The 90-km-long Mughal Road holds immense strategic and public importance as it connects the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in the Pir Panjal region with the Shopian district in Kashmir, serving as a crucial alternate route to the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

Passing through the Pir Ki Gali mountain ranges, the road traverses extremely tough and high-altitude terrain, an area that witnesses heavy to very heavy snowfall during winters, often leading to prolonged closure.

Recently, the BRO was designated as the nodal agency for the maintenance of the Mughal Road, which has been included with a newly sanctioned National Highway, referred to as NH-701A.

Now, in a policy shift, BRO decided to initiate snow clearance work even during winter.

Officials of BRO said that snow cutter machines had been deployed and were working round-the-clock to restore the road.

“Snow clearance operations are being carried out simultaneously from both sides, from the Shopian side in Kashmir by BRO’s Project Beacon and from the Rajouri Poonch side by Project Sampark,” they said.

BRO officials said that if weather conditions remain favourable, the snow clearance work is expected to be completed within the next 10 to 12 days.

They said that the objective was to make the road functional at the earliest and significantly enhance surface connectivity in Kashmir and Jammu.

BRO officials said that this would mark the first time the Mughal Road is restored in the middle of the winter season, a development expected to bring substantial relief and benefits to the people of Rajouri and Poonch districts, besides strengthening strategic and logistical connectivity in the region.