I was scheduled to present a paper in New Zealand on 3–4 February titled “Statistical and Numerical Models for Landslide Susceptibility along the National Highway in Jammu & Kashmir, India, and Its Political and Economic Impacts.” Owing to the ongoing Budget Session, I was unable to travel despite all arrangements being in place. The present series of articles distils the core technical analysis and abstract of that work into accessible write-ups aimed at informing the public and guiding planners and technocrats on the vulnerability, socio-political consequences, and mitigation of recurrent landslides that frequently disrupt this critical corridor.

Connectivity has always carried a political meaning in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Roads here were not simply instruments of movement; they were markers of access, authority and reassurance. From the earliest cart tracks to modern highways, the region’s transport history reflects the tension between geography and governance, between terrain and political imagination.

Historically, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh evolved as geographically and politically distinct regions. Jammu’s relatively stable terrain allowed earlier road........

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