3. Mughal Road Project is located in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and
falls in the Pir-Panjal ranges joining Poonch and Shopian districts. The
Mughal Road connects the Poonch and Shopian districts at a longitude of
74-22’ & 74-50’ and latitude of 33-37’& 33-43’.The length of the proposed
road is 83.90 kms.
Historically, the route was traversed by the armies of Mughal Emperor’s
Akbar, Jahangir and Shahjahan. Now, after a period of 424 years, the
Mughal Road had come alive once again as an alternative road linking the
border territories of Jammu &Kashmir to the rest of the nation.
4. Apart from serving as an alternate highway between Srinagar and Jammu the
Mughal Road had also created the environment which had helped to facilitate greater
inter-regional culture and economic changes. The geographical isolation of the specific
areas, which discouraged people-to-people contact, will end and greater economic
activity between regions would follow, especially in respect of Poonch and Rajouri
districts which has remained cut off from direct contact with the valley for the last
57years.
The construction of Mughal road forms part of the state governments’
development plan with support from the GOI (PM’s Package)
5. During ancient times, the Mughal Road was abuzz with traffic of the
caravans of Mughal emperors and their armies to keep control of Kashmir.
It was used for travel to the Kashmir valley for administration and hence
named “Mughal Road”.
Keeping in view the growing needs of transport and the fact that Srinagar
–Jammu NH1A remains frequently closed to traffic due to landslides,
Mughal road was identified as an alternative communication link between
Jammu & Srinagar. The project was launched in 1969 and several attempts
were made by government to execute the work. Finally, the State
Government decided to handover the construction of Mughal Road to
BRO in 1988-89.But the work was abandoned when insurgency broke-out
in the state in 1990.
6. Finally, in September 2000 it was decided that the Government would execute the
project directly and directed JKPCC to prepare a Detailed Project Report. In 2001,
JKPCC hired the services of M/s RITES who approached Survey of India (SOI) & National
Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) for Satellite Imagery.
M/s RITES prepared a feasibility report and proposed a total cost of Rs.159.00 Crs. The
report was submitted in 2002 to the Government. The case was taken up with MOST in
2003 for necessary approvals. The cost of Rs.159.00 Crs. As projected above is based
on the M/s RITES Feasibility Report of 2001 on the basis of 1998-BRO Schedule of
Rates. Accordingly,the said 83.90 Kms bituminous road was put to tender in June 2005
under the Prime Ministers reconstruction programme. This led to the award of
contract to M/s Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd,Mumbai at Rs.214.40 Crs.
7. Name of the Project: Mughal Road {Balflaiz (Poonch)to Shopian
(Pulwama)}
Scope of Work: Surveying ,Investigating, Designing, Planning,& Execution
of Mughal road from Balflaiz (Poonch) to Shopian (Pulwama).
Brief description of the Project :Two-Lane bituminous pavement road of
length 83.90km including widening &strengthening of existing
carriageway.
Name ,Designation of Employer :The Governor of Jammu & Kashmir.
Contract Value :Rs. 452.77 Crores (Rs.341.04 Crs- Pure Work)
Time for Completion:3 years from the start date for 214.40 Crs. Another
2 years for additional work of 126.64 Crs.
8. Major Specifications:
Carriage way width =7.00 mtrs
No. of RCC Slab Culverts =379 no’s
No. of box culverts= 5 no’s
No. of minor permanent bridges =13 no’s
No. Of months available: Net 6 months available for working in a year (May to
November in a year -1 month monsoon.
Road Crust details: As per the approved cross section kept below:
9. Engineering challenges:
The Mughal road passes through an elevation of 5400 ft (min.) at Bafliaz –
zero Chainage & 11500ft (max) at Pir Ki Gali i.e Ch:43+600.The road
excavation had to be carried out in a virgin cut of the hill as per the
alignment finalized/approved by the client. The road way was accessible
for a length of 20 kms on the Shopian side & 14 kms on the Bafliaz side at
the time of award of the Contract. The remaining portion of the alignment
53.9 kms -54 kms (83.9-(14+20) ) was inaccessible. The survey team
started working from Ch:20 on Shopian side and from Ch: 14 from Balfiaz
side.
10.
11. Excavation challenge:
After the completion of the Survey the alignment was fixed in conjuction to the
standard road geometrics. The approval is were obtained from the Client and the
excavation commenced along the defined alignment. The team progressed upto
Ch:27+000 on either side of the Pir ki Gali by the end November 2007.On the Bafliaz
side ,the team encountered thick & dense forest from Ch:27 and the survey team
processed 0.5 kms ahead of the excavation team for pegging down the alignment
along with the Client representatives.
Unlike the Baflaiz sector, on the Shopian side, the team encountered vertical cliffs in
smaller lengths and deep gorges till Ch:31. At Ch:31 i.e. Lalghulam region, our team
faced a huge vertical cliff which
These efforts were taken by the HCC team in the interest of early single lane
connectivity.The single lane was achieved on July 31,2008 in the said stretch.
12.
13. •Climatic challenge:
Since the project corridor falls in the Himalayan ranges ,the intensity of the cold is
quite severe especially during the snow season i.e from Dec till April every year.The
mercury dips to sub zero levels , of around -10’C and our team experienced -15’C at
Ch:7=+(Shopian Side).The water supply pipelines (GI Pipes) crack due to the freezing of
water at night and subsequently ,the water supply would get affected during these
months. The project team was stationed at Bafliaz and Shopian camp offices and the
work plan for the next working season and resources finalization had to be done for 3
months.
Red colour Heavy intensity of snow .(HCC experienced snow depth 20ft)
Orange colour indicates: Medium intensity of snow. (HCC experienced snow depth 10ft)
Green colour indicates: Light intensity of snow. (HCC experienced snow depth 5ft)
14. •Safety & Security concerns:
The project corridor is known as a high prone militancy area and so there were several
limitations in execution of the project. During the initial period, once the military
patrolling was completed and the clearance was given to HCC ,only then the
equipment and the workmen start functioning at their respective chainages. The
situation continued till end of 2007.
• Logistics:
Due to prevailing security scenario,the explosives required for the hard rock excavation
were stored in nearby police station. In Bafliaz the explosives were stored in Surankote
Police Station i.e. 15kms from Bafliaz towards Poonch.In Shopian sector,a separate
police station was constructed by HCC and handed over to the local administration at
Hirpora i.e. at Ch:72+000.
The blasting operation had to be conducted under the strict supervision of the local
police.
15. •Psychological Conditioning:
As regards the execution of the works, the remoteness of the project site was a major
concern. Recruitment of the officers/engineers who were to be stationed at the
project became a major challenge. Initially , the non-availability of mobile connection
in the Shopian sector and non-availability of landline & mobile connection on Bafliaz
side demoralized the engineers/officers and generated loneliness .Due to project’s
remoteness and also the fear psychosis caused (because of militancty) , officers could
not be retained on the project.
In order to retain the officers/engineers ,HCC had to bear additional expenditure
towards keeping the whole officers team with HCC during the snow season. Few of the
site engineers were sent to other projects on deputation for 3 months . Workmen
were sent on leave for the snow season and they used to resume their duties in April.
A major portion of the works was of RR Masonry, and this required 800 no’s
(Mason+Labour) every year.
17. Key people behind the making of Mughal Road:
Apart from the J&K state government officials who paved the way for execution of the
Mughal Road Project, the following HCC officers made significant contributions
towards the making of the prestigious Mughal Road:
Name Designation Experience
Mr. Mathew Marcus Project Manager 47 years of vast experience
in roads .Majority
experience in hill roads.
Mr. P K Mohanty Dy. Project Manager 22 years in the
construction industry
Mr. Mohan Kumar Koli Contracts & Planning
Manager
8 years in the construction
industry
Mr.MK Sinha Project Equipment Head 23 years in the
construction & equipment
maintenance industry
