Opening of major road leads to brisk business in J-K valley

Rajouri, Oct 12 (ANI): Locals are witnessing a rise in business following the opening of the historical Mughal Road in Rajouri District of Jammu and Kashmir, which has cut down transportation cost of produce and improved accessibility to the Kashmir Valley.

Gulam Ahmed Khawaja, the Deputy Commissioner of Rajouri said that the opening of the Mughal Road has certainly helped the locals.

"In any two regions, where the cultures are different or there are some geographical barriers between them, if they are connected by a road, then any commodity which might be getting wasted in one area can be consumed in the other area, and vice versa. So, in a way, this is trans-border shifting of goods," said Khawaja.

Residents said they could now savour these fruits such as apples and bananas, which were earlier priced exorbitantly due to the additional freight charges.

"We poor people used to long for these wonderful but expensive apples. After opening of this Mughal road we are getting these apples at very economical rates," said Mohammad Fazal Malik, a resident.

Mughal Road connects Bafliaz, a town in the Poonch district, to Shopian in Pulwama district in the Kashmir Valley.

The road passes over the 'Pir Panjal' mountain range at an altitude of 3505 metres.

The Mughal Road project was conceived in 1969 and further execution of the project took place in 1977, but after the completion of a 30-kilometer stretch, construction was stopped.

In 1998, Prime Minister I. K. Gujral again announced the construction of the road but in 2006, all activity was halted after an NGO filed a petition against the construction, saying that it would endanger the habitat of wild animals in the region.

Conditional permission to go ahead with the construction was given only in 2007 by the Supreme Court.(ANI)