Land prices jump 50-80 times in villages, towns along Mughal Road
Shariq Majeed

EVEN as the Mughal Road project is yet to be completed, land prices along the road in Jammu region have skyrocketed.

The road is an alternative route to the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway 1A that is often closed due to avalanches and landslides. Work on the project started in 2005 and since then the prices of land have shot up by 50 to 80 times in smaller towns like Behram Gala, Bufliaz and the tiny town of Chandimarh that lie along the road.

A view of the Mughal Road.

Residents said the rate of one kanal land had increased by 50 to 80 times in villages along the road while in less inhabited villages like Poshana and Dugran, it had increased by five to 10 times.

The Mughal Road takes off from Bufliaz in the border district of Poonch and has smaller towns like Chandimarh and Behramgala besides villages like Dugran, Poshana on the Jammu side. It ends at Shopian in Kashmir province.

Muhammad Din, a farmer owning 20 kanals along the road says, “The rate per kanal of land was Rs 20,000 in 2004 but presently I have customers from Srinagar and Jammu who are ready to pay Rs 20 lakh per kanal.” But I won’t sell the land right now, he adds. “Let the Mughal Road open, the rates will register further increase since people will open shops and business establishments. We thank Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah for conceiving such a great project besides, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed for restarting the work on it,” he says. He said the road project once completed would boost trade in this backward region and would elevate the economic status of the people here.

Buyer Tariq Mehmood of neighbouring Rajouri district who bought 10 marlas land in 2002 in Chandimarh area said that few years back, before the road project started, he bought the land for Rs 1.2 lakh but now the same piece of land costs more than Rs 15 lakh!

“Not very long ago, we would eagerly wait for customers to sell our land for a price which is twenty times lesser than the current prices. Now, we get customers who are ready to pay any price for the land,” says Feroz Khan, a local contractor who also deals in property business. “Once the road opens, people will construct shops and other business establishments and will earn huge profits.”

Road map

CONSTRUCTION of the 84 km road from Bufliaz to Shopian costing Rs 639.35 crore (present estimate) is going on since 2005 and is likely to be completed by 2011. Presently 43 km road from Buffliaz to Pir-ki-Gali in this border district has been completed and made fair-weather, of which, 26.20 km has been double-laned.

Even the road construction is complete on a 41-km stretch from Shopian side in Kashmir province. The road is being constructed from Bufliaz (28 km from the district headquarter of Poonch district) through Behramgala, Chandimarh, Dugran, Poshana, Pir Ki Gali and Hirpura to Shopian. The road being an alternative to the Srinagar-Jammu Highway will connect Rajouri, Poonch districts in Jammu province with Kashmir region.