The world’s highest railway bridge, the latest in a series of infrastructure improvements aimed at integrating the disputed and secluded area into the country and bolstering defence, will soon open to the public in Kashmir after 15 years of building.

The Chenab Rail Bridge, which spans the same-named river, is 359 metres tall, making it 29 metres higher than Paris’s Eiffel Tower. The Ministry of Railways reports that the connection is scheduled to open at the end of December or in January 2024 and that the government believes it will assist Kashmir achieve “prosperity.”

Additionally, it offers the Indian military significant strategic advantages. The bridge should guarantee nearly all-weather access to both the Ladakh region near the volatile border with China and Kashmir, which has long been the source of hostility between India and Pakistan, which claims the territory.

Former Indian Army northern commander D.S. Hooda projected that it will “really change the game” in terms of military capacity, local trade, and tourism. In addition to providing the army with a speedy means to move troops and equipment, he said that it would assist Kashmir people in transporting their apples and other goods.

“The train can carry 50 times what a truck would carry,” remarked Hooda.

There is only one main roadway that leads to Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir. However, it is frequently plagued by torrential downpours and landslides, impeding both military and civilian convoys travelling to Kashmir and Ladakh, the locations of the first lethal nuclear-power conflict in decades, which took place in hand-to-hand fighting in 2020. At the tense India-China border’s Line of Actual Control (LAC), thousands of soldiers are still stationed there.

Another attempt to increase access to remote areas and simplify military logistics is India’s nearing completion of the Zojila road tunnel, which it claims to be Asia’s longest two-way road tunnel and connects Kashmir with Ladakh.

The national highway is problematic in the winter, according to Hooda, so the rail bridge will be very helpful. The previous commander declared that it “would be economically a big help for people, as well as for the Indian army.”

Former army logistics chief Major General Amrit Pal described how the bridge should save travel time.

Convoys take 12 hours to go from Jammu to Srinagar, and 16 hours if they are carrying supplies, according to him. The trip will now be completed in three hours.

In the end, logistics is about getting the right people to the right place at the right time, said Pal.
It is obvious that consideration for the bridge’s military utility and its appeal as a target was given during construction.

The building’s special, 63 millimeter-thick blast-proof steel and explosion-resistant concrete pillars are constructed to withstand explosions. The bridge is designed to withstand earthquakes of up to magnitude 8 and explosives of up to 40 kilogrammes of TNT.

The government also intends to install an online monitoring and warning system on the bridge itself, in addition to a ring of aerial security, to supplement the structure’s robust construction.
Attacks on the area’s transport infrastructure have happened before. In the Pulwama area of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, a convoy transporting Indian security personnel on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was assaulted by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber in 2019. The Indian Central Reserve Police Force lost forty officers.

The buzz surrounding the bridge is still growing even before the trains begin to run high above the Chenab River. The location held a sizable International Yoga Day celebration in June.

However, despite the bridge’s potential economic advantages, some Kashmiris are apprehensive of the effort to further integrate the largely Muslim territory into India’s national fabric.
The bridge project has continuously had several objectives. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the country’s former prime minister, first made the announcement in 2002. The government deemed it to be of “national importance,” saying it sought to hasten the socioeconomic development of the area while fostering “national integration and India’s security infrastructure.”

However, it’s unfortunate that the opening came after Kashmir lost some of its limited autonomy in 2019. Since then, policies have been implemented, such as permitting foreigners to acquire land, which has sparked debate over what exactly “integration” into the country with a Hindu majority entails.

According to Michael Kugelman, head of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Centre think tank in Washington, the bridge will undoubtedly improve security from the standpoint of India. He also highlighted the probable goal of bolstering India’s presence at the frontiers.

“But certainly from the perspective of many in Kashmir, this could be seen as troubling — just how much the military’s control is pronounced,” he said.