Katra’s IMS project to ease travel for Vaishno Devi pilgrims: Union minister Gadkari
Katra (J&K), Apr 11 (PTI) Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said the Inter-Modal Station (IMS) to be established here will be a “world-class” project that will improve the travelling experience of the pilgrims visiting the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.
He also announced that a 110-km Amarnath Marg, leading to the 3,880-metre holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, will be built at a cost of around Rs 5,300 crore for the convenience of the pilgrims.
“The IMS to be established in Katra will be a world-class state-of-the-art project constructed to improve travelling experience of the pilgrims visiting Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine,” the minister told a press conference at Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting the shrine atop Trikuta hills.
The minister, who was flanked by Union ministers Jitendra Singh and Gen (retd) V K Singh and Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, said developmental work worth Rs 1,30,000 crore is being taken up by his ministry in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Since 2014, around 500 km of the road network has been completed in the region. Forty-one significant tunnels are being constructed in J&K and Ladakh at a cost of Rs 45,000 crore, and 18 ropeways worth Rs 5,000 crore will be constructed in the Union Territory,” he said.
The minister also informed that for the journey between Jammu and Srinagar, three corridors worth Rs 35,000 crores are being constructed, which will reduce the existing distance of 320 km between the two cities by 70 km while bringing down the travel time to four to five hours from the current 10 hours.
“With the development of state-of-the-art road network across the country through every state and UT, Kashmir to Kanyakumari (journey) will no longer be a dream for the people of India,” he said.
Jitendra Singh said the Banihal-Ramban stretch along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway will become the hub of lavender cultivation giving rise to agri-tech startups.
