Resume work on Singhpora-Wailu, Sudhmahadev tunnels: GM Saroori

Srinagar, Oct 6: During his tour of Singhpora–Chatroo in Kishtwar district, senior Congress leader and former minister Ghulam Mohammad Saroori asked why the work on the Singhpora–Wailu and Sudhmahadev tunnels has been stalled despite the construction of the National Highway.

Appealing Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari, Saroori urged the immediate resumption of tunnel works, warning that from November onwards Kishtwar and the entire Chenab Valley would lose vital connectivity with Kashmir, inflicting heavy losses on farmers, traders, and the common people.

Speaking at the Singhpora-Wailu tunnel site, Saroori said Singhpora, a Panchayat area in Inderwal, is the critical point where the National Highway (NH-244) was supposed to pass through a tunnel connecting to Anantnag (Wailu).

He explained that nearly 80 per cent of the work on NH-244, which runs from Chenani to Doda, Kishtwar, and up to Singhpora, has already been completed, but the crucial tunnel work has been inexplicably halted. Saroori questioned the government’s intent, saying: “Why has the tunnel point been stopped when the National Highway is almost complete and was supposed to extend up to Khanabal? What reasons are there to keep it held up?” He recalled that two years ago, the TEL company was awarded the tender, but because it had a joint venture with a Canadian company, the contract was cancelled by the then Foreign Minister.