An historic moment for building India’s longest road tunnel comes on Monday as Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari visits Udhampur to witness “the final blast ceremony” on the tunnel being built on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway — opened for general traffic in July next year. The tunnel would reduce the travel time between the two cities by 30 kms.
On this occasion, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) engineers will drill a hole through the final section of the tunnel between Chenani and Nashri.
The 9.2 km-tunnel is part of 286 km-long four-lane project of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway whose work started on May 23, 2011. It is to connect Chenani in Udhampur with Nashri in Ramban district and the project is being completed at a cost of over `2,500 crore.
“Once this tunnel becomes operational, it will not only reduce the distance considerably but will also lessen the traffic jams occurring on the National Highway-1A, especially after the onset of winter which brings in heavy snow and avalanches,” the Road Transport and Highways Ministry said in a statement.
“The state-of-the-art tunnel is simultaneously being built from the two ends and the NHAI teams will meet at the centre by drilling a hole through the final section,” said the statement.
It will also reduce the existing road distance between two points on the highway from 41 km to 10.89 km. The NHAI is also constructing a parallel escape tunnel along with the main tunnel for evacuation of commuters in case of any eventuality.
“The two tubes of the tunnel will be internally connected through 29 “cross-passages” (each after a gap of 300 meters) and the escape tunnel will exclusively be used for pedestrians. There is a provision for ventilation keeping in view the distance of the tunnel,” it said.
The tunnel project will also have parking spots after a specific distance to tow away or shift vehicles in case of a breakdown. The four-lane project would go a long way in creating an all-weather road to the Kashmir valley.
Gadkari will also review the progress of other ongoing projects in the State. “The Minister will meet senior State Ministers and NHAI officials posted in the State to discuss the progress of the ongoing projects,” said an official.
“The Minister wants to have a first hand account of the status of the current projects and offer any further assistance will can ensure early completion of the projects, as work in the higher terrains comes to a halt once heavy winter sets in,” he said.
Work of the lakhanpur-Jammu-Srinagar National Highway particularly, the Banihal-Srinagar stretch has been severely delayed on account of land acquisition and utility shifting.
The latest progress report on the Srinagar-Jammu NHW shows that of the total length of 293 km, four laning of 180 kms has been completed, including 17 kms of Srinagar bypass; and the work is afoot on 92 kms while 72 km are yet to be awarded.