Work on widening the Akhnoor-Poonch National Highway, known as the "Golden Arc Road" is expected to be completed by 2026. This track is a highly strategic stretch that connects the South Kashmir and Jammu region to the West of Jammu Kashmir.
After the flash flood in the Teesta on October 4 last year, connectivity between parts of north Sikkim in Mangan district of the Himalayan state and the Indian mainland snapped as over a dozen bridges on the river were swept away in the district
'The operation is technically becoming more complex…. We’ve never given any timeline for the rescue. We’re working in an environment of unpredictability,' said Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority, a Union home ministry agency coordinating the rescue effort
The officials of the Union road transport and highways ministry and the National Disaster Management Authority also said a six-inch-wide pipe had been drilled to enhance the flow of food, water and medicines to the trapped workers