Originally published at : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/infrastructure-of-integration-how-abrogation-of-article-370-enabled-roads-railways-and-5g-to-connect-kashmir-to-india/
When Article 370 was abrogated in August 2019, Kashmir suddenly took off from decades of isolation into a rapid integration drive. Its soaring mountains and fraught politics had long conspired to keep the region physically and digitally remote, but the removal of its special status dramatically accelerated connectivity projects.
A cascade of new tunnels, bridges, railways, airport expansions, and next-generation telecom networks has since begun stitching the Valley firmly into the national fabric. Engineers liken the momentum to America’s interstate build-out or China’s high-speed rail surge, now unfolding within a Himalayan corridor once cut off for half the year.
Late-winter snow still blanketed the Pir Panjal when a motorcade slipped beneath the Chenani–Nashri tunnel also known as the Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel in March 2020. India’s then-longest road tunnel had sliced 41 kilometres and 44 avalanche zones from the Jammu–Srinagar highway, insulating commerce from weather disruptions. Yet that breakthrough was merely the beginning.
Further north, engineers from Megha Engineering and Infrastructures continue to bore into slate and shale to carve the 13-kilometre Zojila tunnel, bypassing the notoriously treacherous pass separating Kashmir from Ladakh. Excavation was halfway in August 2024, and when it opens in September 2026, a three-hour ordeal will shrink to just twenty minutes. For the first time, the Valley will gain an all-weather lifeline to the strategic plateau of Ladakh and beyond.
Even the harshest routes have capitulated. Twin tunnels near Sonamarg opened ahead of schedule in 2022, boasting a 98-per-cent uptime, courtesy of Smart Tunnel SCADA technology. Removing the tyranny of snowfall is dismantling decades-long incentives for economic isolation.
As roads tunneled through mountains, railways soared above ravines. On 6 June 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the first Vande Bharat train across the Chenab rail bridge, the world’s highest railway arch. At 359 metres above the riverbed—taller than the Eiffel Tower—it anchors the 272-kilometre Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Rail Link, a dream stalled since before Independence.
Engineered to withstand earthquakes and fierce winds, this monumental bridge symbolically demolished the argument that Kashmir’s terrain was impossible to conquer with modern rail infrastructure. Travel time from Katra to Srinagar will soon shrink to just three hours, unlocking rapid movement of goods, tourists, and ideas.
Above ground, Kashmir’s aviation infrastructure is racing to catch up. Srinagar Airport is undergoing a Rs 1,788-crore expansion that will quadruple passenger capacity to 10 million annually, adding glass-walled terminals and six aerobridges reflecting local culture. Jammu Airport, too, will triple capacity, becoming a logistical hub for horticulture exports like saffron, walnuts, and apples—goods previously stranded in highway convoys. I still recall my experience of the effort which met with resistance despite wholehearted support of the late defence minister of India Sh Manohar Parikar when I was commanding a division in Jammu in 2015 to expand the Jammu Airport. And come 2019 the process has gained tremendous momentum.
Physical arteries alone couldn’t complete Kashmir’s integration without digital connectivity. Following the repeal of Article 370 and the end of an eighteen-month high-speed data blackout in February 2021, the state swiftly transitioned from primitive 2G to ultra-modern standalone 5G. Jio and Airtel rolled out widespread 5G coverage, connecting over 900,000 users within a year.
Rural Kashmir also surged forward with the Rs 2,631-crore Amended BharatNet programme, laying optical fibre to connect 3,887 villages by 2025, lifting penetration rates from an abysmal two per cent. Even pilgrimage routes received connectivity boosts, with live streaming of Amarnath prayers becoming a reality in 2025.
From isolation to integration
A decade ago, travelling from Jammu to Srinagar involved chains, rations, and planning for road closures. Today, it’s a quick drive through weather-proof tunnels or an effortless rail journey across the Chenab. Kashmiri entrepreneurs now upload 4K product videos over 5G and ship produce via overnight cargo flights.
While connectivity alone cannot erase historical grievances, it reshapes realities. As logistics barriers fall, local universities, hospitals, and entrepreneurs benefit from the same real-time connections as their peers in major Indian metros. Each metre of asphalt and megahertz of spectrum shrinks the psychological and physical distances that once defined Kashmir.
Completion schedules still stretch ahead: Zojila’s final blast in 2026, Srinagar’s gleaming terminal by 2027, and BharatNet’s last-mile connectivity in remote hamlets. Yet the trajectory is set away from siege geography toward a landscape defined by connectivity. When a Vande Bharat crosses the Chenab at dawn and a tourist in Gulmarg livestreams via 5G, Kashmir’s new normal will feel entirely ordinary. But it is precisely this ordinariness—connection as an everyday reality—that represents the revolution triggered by the abrogation of Article 370.
