Rethinking Alternate Road Connectivity to Kashmir

 

Rethinking Alternate Road Connectivity to Kashmir

“With just one highway connecting Jammu and Kashmir, frequent blockades during critical times like the fruit season cause severe disruptions and economic losses. Fast-tracking the Mughal Road and NH-244 is essential to build a reliable network that guarantees uninterrupted access and strengthens the region’s resilience.”

Peerzada Mohsin Shafi

T

he year 2025 proved to be a harsh examination for the country’s administrative and infrastructure planning, especially in the wake of increasing climate-induced calamities. From the northernmost stretches of Jammu and Kashmir to the southern states like Kerala, relentless rainfall, floods and cloudbursts left widespread destruction. Across regions, public infrastructure crumbled under the weight of nature’s fury. Jammu and Kashmir saw significant damage with events such as the Kishtwar cloudburst, Ramban landslide, Vaishno Devi slide and Jammu floods. Other states such as Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha and Maharashtra faced similar devastation. At the heart of this crisis was the crumbling of road connectivity, with national highways either partially damaged or completely washed away. In Karnataka and Mangalore, highways were battered. Himachal’s NH-3 and NH-21 were wiped out. Kerala’s NH-66 collapsed even before completion. NH-44, particularly from Jammu to Pathankot, suffered bridge failures and washouts, causing serious connectivity issues. The recurring collapse of road networks, especially during peak climate activity has become more of a rule than an exception.

Among the worst-affected and most critically exposed infrastructures was the much-hyped all-weather Srinagar-Jammu National Highway (NH-44), which is being promoted as a landmark achievement in road engineering and reliable round-the-year connectivity. That myth quickly shattered when heavy rains and flash floods in April crippled the Ramban-Banihal stretch. Tunnels were submerged, roadbeds vanished and in some areas, the alignment of the road could not even be identified. The claimed all-weather status turned into a joke, with vehicles trapped for weeks and supplies halted. Weeks passed before a temporary passage was created using improvised methods that did little to address the fundamental weaknesses of the road. Then in September 2025, a two-kilometre portion of the Udhampur-Chenani section was washed away, again disrupting all traffic. Despite government efforts to reopen the route, the patchwork solutions have made it dangerously unreliable. Such Band-Aid solutions offer little more than one-way traffic advisories, which trigger a chain reaction of long traffic jams, causing significant hardship for the people. Every year brings a new weak point, last year it was Dalwas, earlier it was Kishtwari Pathar and this year Ballinallah where roads, supposedly built for years, collapse within weeks of rain. This recurring failure exposes the poor quality of construction, lack of proper assessment of terrain and an apparent absence of accountability.

The timing of these collapses often coincides with economically sensitive periods, such as the autumn apple harvesting season in Kashmir. During this time, thousands of trucks loaded with apples must be transported to markets across India. Apples, being perishable, require quick and efficient transport, but the NH-44 blockades turn the process into a logistical nightmare. However, the issue is not just about the apple season. These road blockages have broader and deeper economic consequences. They disrupt supply chains, delay essential commodities, spike transportation costs and inflate market prices. This ripple effect impacts every household, small business, and trade activity dependent on movement between Jammu and Kashmir. Over time, this drains the economy silently, causing enormous financial stress to transporters, traders, farmers and common consumers. Each day of closure causes cumulative losses, which are rarely measured or addressed publicly.

Efforts to use alternate routes such as the Mughal Road during such emergencies have largely failed. Proposed in 1950 and constructed in 2005, the Mughal Road still cannot function as a dependable alternative. Despite being the most feasible second route, it remains seasonally closed and structurally underdeveloped. Although a tunnel was approved in 2017 during the PDP-BJP tenure, no progress was made on the ground and only recently has the project been revived. If executed swiftly, the tunnel could be a game-changer and would offer an essential parallel link to NH-44. Similarly, NH-244, from Chenani-Kishtwar-Anantnag which is already 80 percent complete, could serve as a strong backup if pending components like the Sudhmahadev-Dranga and Vailoo-Singhpora tunnels are finished without further delay and crucial corridor Kathua-Samba-Doda Road which has been promised by the Union government must now be taken up with urgency.

It is clear that placing the entire connectivity of a region as important as Jammu and Kashmir on a single road especially one as fragile as NH-44 is a strategic failure. The geology of the area is naturally unstable and vulnerable to landslides, making it unfit to carry the burden of all traffic year-round. The repeated breakdown of NH-44 highlights the urgent need for alternative routes. Thankfully, the government doesn’t need to start from scratch. Major groundwork already exists. What is needed is swift execution, political will and administrative focus. Prioritising the Mughal Road tunnel, fast-tracking NH-244’s tunnel components and pushing forward with the Kathua-Samba-Doda corridor will finally allow the region to breathe. Meanwhile government can plan and work effectively on the NH-44 to close the loop holes. Only then can we truthfully claim to have all-weather connectivity between Jammu and Kashmir not through a single vulnerable stretch, but through a network of reliable and resilient roads that support the economy, ensure uninterrupted movement and provide relief during emergencies.