Mughal Road closure causes hardship for Shopian, Pir Panchal residents

By: Jahangeer Ganaie

Srinagar: The historic Mughal road continues to remain closed for traffic movement, due to which people on both sides have been suffering.

The road connecting Kashmir via Shopian with the Pir Panchal region in Jammu was shut in winter because of snow accumulation on the road.

Speaking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the people from Shopian, as well as Poonch and Rajouri areas of Pir Panchal, demanded the reopening of the road for traffic, as they are forced to take longer routes. They said the closure of the road badly impacts businesses and other activities of residents of Shopian, Hirpora, Dubjan, Pir-Ki-Gali, Buffliaz, Thanamadi, and other villages.

Many people from Shopian are married in Poonch or Rajouri, and vice versa. However, the closure of the road is affecting people traveling to visit their relatives on both sides.

It has also affected students from Kashmir studying at Baba Ghulam Shah University in Rajouri, who were expecting to come home or return through the same route on Eid, but that hasn’t happened as of now.

Despite receiving national highway status in 2016, the proposed tunnel to make the road all-weather is nowhere in sight. Although the road was handed over to the BRO last year, the construction of the tunnel to ensure an all-weather road is yet to see daylight.

People from both sides requested that the concerned authorities look into the matter and reopen it for traffic as soon as possible. An official stated that the snow clearance work is in the final stage and that a decision about reopening the road will be taken shortly. —(KNO)