After delays, Digdol-Panthiyal tunnel, 1.9-km Sherbibi-Ramsoo viaduct stretch set to open before Amarnath Yatra

Marog-Digdol twin-tube tunnel may stretch beyond December 2027

- Khalid Gul

After years of delays, landslides and repeated weather-related disruptions, work on the most vulnerable Ramban-Banihal stretch of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway is finally gathering pace, with key tunnel and viaduct sections likely to open before the annual Amarnath Yatra in July.

Officials said one tube of the strategically important Digdol-Panthiyal twin-tube tunnel and a 1.9-kilometre portion of the Sherbibi-Ramsoo elevated corridor will open to traffic during the yatra to ease movement on the treacherous highway stretch.

“We are very much on track, and the 3.08-kilo-metre southbound tube towards Jammu will be operational by the time the Yatra commences,” NHAI Project Director Shubham Yadav told Greater Kashmir.