Wire meshes to check landslides on J-K highway

With landslides and shooting stones often disrupting traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway and posing a danger to lives, the Border Roads Organisation

With landslides and shooting stones often disrupting traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway and posing a danger to lives, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has started installing wire meshes above the carriageway to keep boulders from hitting the road surface.

It has already started installing a “protective” wire mesh cover near Pantihal—a problematic stretch along NH1A—as part of trial runs. “We have started installing strong wire nets along the section. Work is underway along a 200-300-metre stretch on NH1A near Pantihal where rocks keep falling on to the carriageway. We have started work on an experimental basis and may try it at other locations with similar problems,” said Lt Gen K S Rao, Director General of BRO.

BRO, which is maintaining the highway, is even taking expert advice on the technique from the Konkan Railway. “Since this is the first time wire nets are being installed on roads, we are consulting Konkan Railway officials on the subject. They have already put the technique to successful use in parts of West Karnataka,” added Rao.

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As a long-term measure, BRO has already written to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to expedite work on widening the highway. The NHAI will soon be four-laning the Jammu-Srinagar highway to convert it to an all-weather road and minimise blockages caused due to heavy snowfall. As part of the project, NHAI will be constructing several tunnels along the stretch. The longest of the tunnels will be at Banihal. The NHAI is also planning a 600-m road tunnel at Pantihal as part of the upgradation project, but that could take several years.

The BRO has written to the NHAI to give this tunnel priority once construction starts on the highway. In the meantime, it has started widening the 120-m long Pantihal stretch by 30 meters to make it usable even in bad weather. The work will be completed within two months.

NHAI had recently invited tenders for four-laning NH1A from Udhampur to Srinagar, but its plans hit a roadblock with the lowest bid quoting an amount 40 per cent above the estimates drawn up by the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways. The ministry may soon call fresh tenders.