J&K govt mulls 600-km highway along border to explore picturesque tourist spots

SRINAGAR: A 600 km-long highway will be constructed along the border touching all picturesque tourist spots in the Kashmir Valley, each of which will be "another Gulmarg", J&K Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam has said.

The Rs 8,000 crore road project will connect Gulmarg with Kargil and Drass in Ladakh. "We are planning to construct a 600 km road which will touch tourist attractions like Keran, Gurej and Machhal. The road will connect all unexplored tourist spots and picturesque valleys and help open them for the tourists," Subrahmanyam told a group of visiting journalists.

The chief secy said there will be 12-13 major tunnels along the road and it will facilitate connectivity to the forward locations. "Each of these tourist locations will be another Gulmarg," he said.

While picturesque Keran and Machhal are located along the Line of Control in Kupwara district, Gurez is a valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains in Bandipora district.

Kargil and Drass now fall under the Union Territory of Ladakh.

Civilian injured in Pak shelling dies

A 65-year-old man injured in Pakistan shelling on the LoC on Friday in Poonch district, succumbed overnight, taking the toll of civilians killed in the flare up to two, officials said on Saturday.

6 LeT terror funding network men held

Security forces arrested six members of an LeT terror financing network and foiled their bid to revive the outfit in Jammu region, officials said Saturday.

Meanwhile, spelling out the contours of his model of governance, new LG of J&K Manoj Sinha, has stressed on zero tolerance for corruption in the union territory and called for the promotion of youth-centric programmes, an official said here on Saturday.