Commuters pay tolls and taxes for a four-lane road they still do not fully have. The unfinished Ramban stretch and the seasonal migration need planning, not patience.
The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is meant to be the Valley’s all-weather lifeline. For many travellers it remains a test of endurance. Years after four-laning began, the promise of reliable connectivity is only partly kept, and every delay costs time, money and patience.
Of the roughly 245 km corridor, shortened from nearly 300 km by tunnels and realignments, about 230 km has been upgraded. The remaining 15 km lie in the fragile Ramban-Banihal section, where tunnels and viaducts must cut through thrust and fault zones. Landslides and complex engineering have delayed completion repeatedly, and NHAI now targets mid-to-late 2027.
Twice a year the road slows further. Bakarwal herders migrating with their livestock between the Valley and the plains around Jammu share the narrow carriageway with trucks and cars. Traffic advisories routinely blame slow movement on nomadic groups, breakdowns and single-lane stretches. The autumn movement coincides with the fruit harvest, when apple and pear consignments must reach distant markets fast. Horticulture supports around 35 lakh people and contributes roughly a tenth of the Union Territory’s GDP. Past seasons have seen jams of ten to fifteen hours, rotting produce and heavy losses.
Road users rightly ask why the burden falls on them. They pay tolls at plazas including Bann, Nashri, Lamber and Kaichachkoot, road tax of nine to ten percent of a vehicle’s cost, and fuel taxes every day. These are not small sums for ordinary families. In return they expect a working four-lane highway, not a seasonal bottleneck.
The answer is not to stop the Bakarwals. Their migration is a traditional livelihood protected by custom and law, and they have as much claim to the route as anyone. The answer is planning. Dedicated livestock corridors, timed underpasses and overpasses, and temporary herding tracks alongside the carriageway during migration windows would keep herds and heavy traffic apart. Traffic police, district administrations and community elders should fix movement schedules before each season, not improvise on the road.
Alternatives matter as much. The proposed Katra-Reasi-Mahore-Gulabgarh-Nandimarg-Kulgam corridor, with its DPR underway, could cut the distance below 200 km and travel time to about three hours. Upgrading the Mughal Road with tunnels would add a second dependable route. No region should hang its economy on a single road.
NHAI has delivered difficult tunnels and bypasses before. The last kilometres deserve the same urgency and resources. Commuters, growers and transporters who fund this highway through tolls and taxes have waited long enough. Seasonal paralysis is a problem to solve, not a fact of life.
