Prime Minister Narendra Modi. | AP
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a day-long visit to Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow (May 19).
The Prime Minister will attend the closing ceremony of the birth centenary celebration of the 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche in Leh.
At the same event, Prime Minister Modi will unveil a plaque to mark the commencement of work on the Zojila Tunnel.
The 14-km-long Zojila tunnel will be India's longest road tunnel and Asia's longest bi-directional tunnel.
The cabinet committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Modi, had approved the construction, operation and maintenance of this tunnel between Baltal and Minamarg, on the Srinagar-Leh section of National Highway-1A, at a total cost of Rs. 6,800 crore earlier this year.
The construction of this tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh. It will cut down the time taken to cross the Zojila pass from the present three and a half hours to just fifteen minutes.
This tunnel will lead to all-round economic and socio-cultural integration of these regions. It also has immense strategic importance.
Prime Minister Modi will dedicate the 330 MW Kishanganga Hydropower Station to the Nation, at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar. He will also lay the Foundation Stone of the Srinagar Ring Road.
At the General Zorawar Singh Auditorium in Jammu, Prime Minister Modi will also lay the Foundation Stone of the Pakul Dul Power Project and the Jammu Ring Road. He will also inaugurate the Tarakote Marg and Material Ropeway of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. The Tarakote Marg will facilitate pilgrims visiting the shrine.
The Ring Roads in Srinagar and Jammu are aimed at reducing traffic congestion at these cities and making road travel safer, faster, more convenient and more environment friendly.
Prime Minister Modi will also attend the convocation of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Jammu.
