Pulwama Terror Attack - Restricting Civilian Movement in Jammu-Uri Highway
iasparliament
February 21, 2019
What is the issue?
Following the Pulwama terror attack, the civilian traffic movement is said to be restricted during the movement of convoys of security forces.
It is essential, in this context, to understand the challenges involved in the Jammu-Srinagar-Uri national highway.
What and how are the key stretches in the highway?
The Jammu-Srinagar-Uri national highway is the only road link between Jammu and Kashmir. It runs for nearly 370 km.
The length includes 175 km in the Valley, from Qazigund in South Kashmir to Uri in North Kashmir.
It passes through Anantnag, Pulwama, Srinagar and Baramulla.
It is this stretch of the highway that is considered to be facing a security threat.
An 85.4-km stretch from Qazigund to Narbal, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Srinagar city, is a four-lane double road for two-way traffic.
But the stretch from Narbal to Uri, running 90.2 km, is a double-lane single road, just 30 feet wide.
Traffic from both sides has to pass on this narrow road.
At most places, the highway is surrounded by villages and residential colonies. Subsidiary roads connect to these villages.
What is the traffic scenario along the highway?
It is estimated that over 9,500 vehicles including around 5,000 LMVs (Light Motor Vehicles) move on both sides on the highway every hour.
Every day, at least 4 security convoys move on the highway.
Movement of convoys increases during summer, when the road to Ladakh and border areas of the Valley is thrown open.
The convoys move only by day because of security concerns around night movement.
If movement of civilian traffic were to be halted during convoy movement, it would mean closing each stretch, southern and northern, for at least 5 hours.
What is the challenge in restricting the movement?
It is slightly easier to restrict civilian traffic during convoy movements on the southern stretch.
One lane can be secured for convoy movement, and civilian traffic from both sides can be allowed to use the other lane.
But on the stretch from Narbal to Uri, vehicles from both sides use the same 30-foot-wide road.
So if traffic at Baramulla or Narbal is stopped for even one hour, it means that over 5,000 vehicles would pile up from each side.
It would then take several hours to clear the traffic jam.
Also, it would be very difficult to stop vehicles coming out of different residential areas along the highway.
What are the other alternatives?
Air - Airlifting security forces personnel from Jammu to Kashmir would save travel time from 10 hours to 30 minutes, but would be very costly.
Also, even in that case, the security personnel would have to be sent in convoys from Srinagar to South Kashmir or North Kashmir.
Rail - Currently, rail service is an eight-coach train that connects Banihal in Jammu to Baramulla in Kashmir.
A train route would not only reduce travel time from over 5 hours to two-and-a-half hours, but also be relatively safer.
The challenge is that security forces would have to maintain very tight vigil against any possible attacks.
The railway line is secured by the Railway Protection Force, but the CRPF and Army personnel can possibly be deployed to secure the line for travel of security personnel.
Now, 22 companies of CRPF and Army personnel in about the same numbers guard the Jammu-Srinagar-Baramulla highway during the day.
