Minister of Public Works and Parliamentary Affairs Abdul Rehman Veeri today set the December 2016 deadline to complete the Chenani-Nashri tunnel.
He said this during a high-level meeting convened here today to review the progress of national highway projects.
The officers informed the minister that all civil works had been completed on the Chenani-Nashri tunnel and testing of the operation of different equipment was awaited.
Meanwhile, lifting and cleaning of leftover material inside and around the openings was being done.
Taking exception to the laid-back approach towards maintenance of the highway by the construction companies working on the four-laning of the Jammu-Srinagar highway, Veeri made it clear to the executing agencies that it was their responsibility to maintain the highway in their respective areas of operation until completion of the four-laning work.
He directed the concessionaires to keep their men and machinery ready for clearance of the Srinagar-Jammu road in case of blockade due to snowfall, landslides and other eventualities.
The officers informed the minister that the construction on the Baflaiz-Surankote stretch was almost complete and from Thanamandi to Rajouri land acquisition and forest clearance process was in the final stage.
The executing agency, Forest and Revenue Departments, will form a joint committee that will check the progress of the work on regular basis on the directions of the minister.
On the Batote-Kishtwar stretch, the meeting was informed that physical work would start within week’s time.
The meeting also discussed the work status of Udhampur-Ramban, Ramban-Banihal, Banihal-Qazigund, Banihal-Srinagar and Poonch-Akhnoor road stretches.
Deadline for Nashri-Chenani tunnel set to dec 2016: Veeri
