Road connectivity has been the most contentious issue as far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned. Though National Highway and other highways are there and if weather plays truant then they also become stagnant with long queue of stranded vehicles on both sides of the highway because of no alternative linkups and if one goes into the interiors of the State the situation is worst. Even some stretch within the winter capital are really death traps with waterlogged big potholes and due to slight carelessness one receives the penalty in terms of an accident or some damage to the vehicle. After the coming of PDP-BJP Coalition in power there was a flurry of activities with all the Jammu city roads getting a facelift. Today the potholes and unmarked and unattended berms and dividers appear to have made their comeback in original places. Recently Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was in New Delhi where she met Union Minister for Road Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari and emphsised the need to strengthen road network in Jammu and Kashmir if the people of State have to be partners in the country’s growth story. The Chief Minister apprised the Union Minister about the necessity of building an all weather road connectivity keeping the strategic importance of the State. Keeping the constraints of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway during the extreme weather conditions she also raised the point of providing an alternative high way which can extend the connectivity to the far-off areas of Doda via Lakhanpur-Mahanpur-Basohli-Bani-Doda which can give boost to the tourism sector by opening the virgin areas to the world. Similarly the untapped tourist spots of Poonch-Rajouri region can also be exploited if the Uri section of the road is completed with the opening of an alternative doorway to Kashmir. She also raised the point of decongesting the two capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar by providing ring roads on the peripheries. Development of any region is proportionate to its quality road-spread and so is the quality of living standards which unfortunately Jammu and Kashmir has been devoid of both with infrastructure development, if any, it remained confined to the urban pockets and rural areas were neglected.
