Firdaus Khan
Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to Kashmir, attended the function to lay the foundation stone for the of the "Z-Morh Tunnel" on the Srinagar-Leh section of National Highway (NH)-1, which aims to provide all-weather connectivity with Ladakh. Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways C.P. Joshi laid the foundation stone.

During his visit to Kashmir last year, people of Ladak had complained him about the roads getting blocked during the winter causing great difficulties. Rahul Gandhi had then promised them that he would try his level best to find out a solution and the present tunnel is the result of his initiative.

The project is a major initiative towards improvement of infrastructure in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. This Z-Morh tunnel is 6.5 km long two-lane tunnel with parallel 6.5 km long escape tunnel on a new alignment between Gagangir and Sonamarg under Srinagar-Leh section of NH-1. The construction of this Z-Morh tunnel will provide all-weather road connectivity between Srinagar and Leh, thereby bringing big relief to the people of Laddakh. The stretch between Srinagar-Leh would be important for the betterment of the socio-economic development of Laddakh. The tunnel will also boost the tourism potential of  Sonamarg and adjacent area.

While addressing the function, Rahul Gandhi struck an emotional chord with the people and said that he wants to build a lifelong relationship with people of Kashmir. He wishes to understand their difficulties and work for the development of the state.  The Congress leader also assured that the Centre has been working on more and more developmental projects in Kashmir.

Rahul Gandhi said that I express my gratitude to all of you who took pain to come here despite the inclement weather. I am also grateful for the personnel from the Border Roads and salute them for their selfless service in ensuring the connectivity in our country by building roads. Farooq Abdullah Ji had just said that his father had a good friend ship with my great-grandfather and they had worked together for a better Kashmir. I want to inform you that my family also belongs to Kashmir. I am also a Kashmiri.

I have two goals in my mind.  I know that the people in Kashmir have been passing through a number of hardships. So, I first want to build a lifelong relationship with you so that I can thoroughly understand your pain as well as your difficulties. I, therefore, look forward to establish a good relationship with the people of Kashmir like the way my great grandfather did with the father of Farooq Abdullah Ji.

My other aim is to connect the youth in Kashmir with development. At present, our country has been developing fast and the entire states are achieving faster growth in all the fields like education and health. I want the same development and facilities in Kashmir too. Kashmir needs better education, health, infrastructure and electricity.

When I visited the state last time, the people of Ladakh had told me that the roads in the region are closed during winter. We tried our level best to find a solution to this serious problem and this Z-Morh Tunnel is only the first step and we are planning to execute bigger infrastructure projects in the future.  This is just the beginning and we want the youth in the state also take part in the process of development so that we can find out quicker solutions for the problems being faced by the people in Kashmir.

I want to know more about you and your problems. I had come here last year and I assure that I would try to pay more and more visits in future. I once again thank all of you for giving me a patient hearing”.