Question

Jhelum valley cart road completed in 1895 CE linked srinagar with​

Answer 1

Jhelum Valley Cart Road linking Srinagar with Peshawar via Kohala and Muree was completed in 1895 CE.

• Srinagar, April 7  The Jhelum Valley road on which the historic Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus rolled out today, witnessed movement of vehicular traffic after a gap of exactly 48 years.

• In October, 1947, traffic on the road was disrupted in the wake of the Pakistan-backed tribal after which it remained open for very restricted vehicular movement upto 1956 before being completely closed, according to historians here.

• Construction of the historic rad, which takes its name from Jhelum, the main river of Kashmir, had started in 1881, they said.

• Considering that around that time there was not even a single-wheeled mode of transport in the land-locked valley, the project appeared a 'curious undertaking'.

• The then Maharaja's government, on the advice of then British residents, entrusted the construction of the road between Kohala and Baramulla in north Kashmir to a British contractor firm - Spedding Mitchel and Company that engaged European engineers and several hundred pathans and other labourers for the job.

• The road was finally opened for traffic in September 1890 when Maharaja Pratap Singh took the first ride from Baramulla to Kohala. However, public traffic on the road started only in 1892.

• The extension of the road to Srinagar was started in 1893 and completed in 1895, involving an expenditure of Rs 21,78,870, they said.

• The historians said construction of the road between Baramulla and Chakoti, the first village on the PoK side, claimed 54 lives in four years due to falling off cliffs and explosions. Another 20 lives were said to have been lost due to snake bites, they added.

• Following completion of the road, travel to and from Kashmir became easier, cheaper and more comfortable.

• Initially, Tongas and ikkas (horse-pulled carts) were used as modes of transport and bullock-carts for carrying heavy goods. But after some years, lorries and cars started plying on the road.

• The road soon became the lifeline for the valley, as over 80 percent of imports and exports were carried through it. The majority of tourists from all over India also entered Kashmir through the Jhelum Valley road.

• Considered to be one of the most wonderful mountain roads in the world, its length from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad is 170 kilometers. From Muzaffarabad, it goes further 20 km to reach Kohala where the boundary of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir terminates.