The Srinagar–Jammu National Highway (NH-44), the sole surface link connecting Kashmir with the rest of India.
Multiple landslides, tunnel collapses, and road cave-ins on the crucial Ramban–Banihal stretch have once again brought traffic to a halt, leaving thousands of vehicles stranded and travellers in distress. The disruption is only the latest in a series of alarming incidents that now raise serious concerns over the planning, design, and execution of one of India’s most strategic roadways. Since its upgradation began in 2011, NH-44 was intended to evolve into an all-weather four-lane expressway that would support tourism, trade, and military mobility in the sensitive Himalayan belt. Over ₹11,000 crore has been spent across various phases of the project. Yet, 14 years on, the highway remains perilously unstable, especially through the mountainous terrain of Ramban district, where vertical slope-cutting and poor geotechnical surveys have led to repeated natural disasters.
Initial project reports failed to account for the fragile geomorphology of the region, resulting in dangerous construction methods such as aggressive hill-cutting and inadequate slope stabilisation. These flawed practices left the terrain exposed to weather-induced failures. In one of the most high-profile setbacks, the Cafeteria Morh tunnel project — meant to bypass a landslide zone — developed cracks due to weak geology, stalling work indefinitely. Subsequent efforts, including a revised plan involving the construction of five tunnels, offered a more technically sound approach. However, execution has been marred by fresh collapses, poor material quality, and underestimation of the region’s complex subsurface conditions. The latest casualty was the Seri region, where landslides obliterated rock bolting and mesh netting installed just three years ago — a development that has not only wiped out crores in public spending but also put lives at risk.
In nearby Panthal and Kela Morh, similar failures have continued despite protective structures like canopies and embankments. At Battery Chashma, a portion of the highway has vanished entirely, plunging vehicles into ravines and cutting off entire districts. The resulting chaos underscores a wider issue — that NH-44, despite being declared an all-weather road, cannot withstand even moderate spells of rain. Transport experts and environmental engineers are now questioning whether the highway was ever designed for climate resilience. The intensity and frequency of failures point to systemic lapses in both DPR preparation and on-ground execution. While a consultant was previously blacklisted, the broader mechanism for accountability appears insufficient. These engineering failures cannot be dismissed as natural disasters when they are exacerbated by human negligence.
Meanwhile, the recent rejection by the Public Investment Board of alternative tunnel routes on NH-244 — citing NH-44 as sufficient — reflects a disconcerting gap between ground realities and policy decisions. With NH-44 failing to meet its core objective of year-round connectivity, the rationale behind halting complementary projects seems not just flawed but dangerously myopic. More than just a tale of a broken road, the NH-44 saga is a stark reflection of what happens when development disregards ecology. The costs are being paid not only in monetary terms but in public safety, regional mobility, and environmental degradation. For a region as strategically sensitive and ecologically fragile as Jammu and Kashmir, the time has come to prioritise sustainability over speed, science over shortcuts, and accountability over ambition.
If India is to build truly resilient infrastructure, especially in climate-sensitive regions, it must abandon the outdated model of earth-moving projects and adopt approaches rooted in environmental harmony, seismic sensitivity, and zero-net carbon goals. Anything less risks turning lifelines into liabilities.
Also read: https://urbanacres.in/mumbai-first-amrit-bharat-express-rolls-out/
