Winter Warning

With a slight shower, a light snowfall in the peripheries and a biting wind, winter has announced its arrival. Though the weather is expected to stabilise for coming days, but the time for cold, snow and associated problems is definitely here. And there is nothing new in it. We have lived through winters for ages, and this is our climate. However, the questions of connectivity and availability of provisions in winters remain.

The damage that the Srinagar-Jammu highway suffered during the unexpected rains sometime back is an area of concern. Cloudbursts and landslides resulted in heavy damage to this national highway at multiple spots. Now with rains and snowfall expected in the winter months ahead, how will this highway behave is a question that nags every mind here. For the government the dry days ahead is the time to speed up restoration work where ever needed.

In case there are road closures in the months ahead, the government has to think of ensuring availability of day to day provisions. To that end, what is already done and what is expected of the concerned department up ahead is another matter of concern.

Another area of concern is that of alternative connectivity during road closure. During winter months we don’t have the luxury of using the Mughal Road that connects Kashmir province through Shopian to Jammu province through Rajouri. The only surface connection that can be utilised in that case is the recently started rail link connecting Srinagar with Katra. The Vande Bharat rail service is the swift surface mode to travel from Kashmir to Jammu, but the issue of capacity remains. This rail service is way behind taking any significant load of commuters from and to Kashmir. In the long run, people of J&K would expect the central government to expand on this facility and make it possible that people can board the train from Srinagar, alight at Jammu or onwards at Delhi. That is something people would expect to come their way in next some years.

One last thing that needs attention in this regard is the case of exorbitant air fares once the national highway faces any closure. This is a perennial problem and the government needs to make some serious intervention in this regard.