SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has raised the demand for highway status for the Bandipora-Sumbal-Gurez road with the Union Minister for Road, Transport, and Highways, days after MLA Bandipora Nizamuddin Bhat wrote a letter to the Chief Minister, seeking the latter’s intervention.
The Chief Minister, while responding to the legislator in a letter said that the matter has been taken up with the Union Ministry for consideration.
“This has reference to your D.O. letter dated 20-12-2024, containing the issue relating to the grant of National Highway status to the road from Sumbal to Gurez. The issue has been taken up with the Union Ministry vide officer letter No. HCM/PS/2024/ND-04 for consideration,” reads the letter.
Earlier, Bhat had sought the intervention of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to have this “long-pending demand duly considered for early redressal.” He had stated that Bandipora’s main connectivity has not been accorded highway status from Sumbal to Gurez, despite its strategic, economic, and accessibility considerations.
Nizamuddin Bhat also raised the issue in the first session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in November last year, seeking the intervention of the House to get this demand addressed at the earliest. (KNO)
