SURESH NAIR
JAMMU: With the official inauguration slated for April 2, the Chenani-Nashri Tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH-44) not only would ease the pressure but would also cut the travelling time by two hours. The two capitals of the State would come nearer by around 30 Km.
Keeping the tourism potential of the tunnel, the development of wayside tourist facilities will be developed as independent tourism destination.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to dedicate, the 9.50 Km-long Chenani-Nashri Tunnel, which is an engineering marvel, to the nation officially on April 2, 2017.
This is for the first time Jammu and Kashmir would have an amalgamation of technology on road usage. It is country’s longest road tunnel with a length of 9.50 Km build at a cost Rs 3,800 crore and Asia’s first Smart Technology based tunnel made underground without disturbing the ecology and a better utilisation of water resources, said Ashutosh Chandwar, Vice President, IL&FS .
The tunnel will reduce the distance between Chenani and Nashri from 41 km (25.5 miles) to 11 km (6.8 miles). Snowfall and avalanches in winter at Patnitop obstructs NH 44 a few times every winter and cause long queues of vehicles – sometimes for days at length. The tunnel will bypass Patnitop, Kud, and Batote and will reduce traffic jams on NH 44 in winter.
The Rs 3,800 crore tunnel was a symptomatic of problems that most big infrastructure projects faced.
While some, such as acquisition of land, lack of funds, delay in clearances and labour issues, are common to all the States, in Jammu and Kashmir, difficult terrain is proving to be an additional stumbling block.
Before this, State had Jawahar Tunnel (Banihal Tunnel) which was named after the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, constructed for round-the-year surface transport by Alfred Kunz and C. Barsel (both were Germans) between 1954 and 1960. The Jawahar tunnel has been operational since 22nd December 1956. The length of tunnel is 2.85 km (1.77 miles), its elevation is 2,194 m (7,198 ft) and it has one lane road in either direction. It is situated between Banih?l and Qazigund on NH 1A that has been renumbered NH 44 in around 2010.The tunnel facilitates round-the-year road connectivity from Srinagar to Jammu. Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel which is under construction is 8.45 km (5.25 miles) tunnel in the Pir Panjal Range between Banihal and Qazigund. Construction of this tunnel started in 2011 along with the project to widen NH 44 to four lanes.
The existing road tunnel below the Banihal Pass (Jawahar tunnel), has been a bottleneck on the road due to its elevation of 2,194 m (7,198 ft) and limited traffic capacity. The new tunnel’s average elevation at 1,790 m (5,870 ft) and is 400 m lower than the existing Jawahar Tunnel’s elevation, which would make it less prone to avalanches. When completed, the tunnel would reduce the road distance between Banihal and Qazigund by 16 km (9.9 miles).
It is a double tube tunnel consisting of two parallel tunnels – one for each direction of travel. Each tunnel is 7 m (23 ft) wide tunnel and has two lanes of road.
The two tunnels are interconnected by a passage every 500 m (1,600 ft) for maintenance and emergency evacuation. The tunnel will have forced ventilation for extracting smoke and stale air and infusing fresh air. It will have state of the art monitoring and control systems for security. It is expected that vehicles will have to pay a toll to use the tunnel.
As of February 2017, the tunnel excavation was close to completion, with tunnel commissioning expected in 2018. Completion of Srinagar-Qazigund stretch, Qazigund-Banihal tunnel, Banihal-Ramban section and Chenani-Nashri tunnel as part of up-gradation of Srinagar-Jammu highway will facilitate hassle-free travel between the two capital cities of the State.
TUNNEL PROJECTS IN PIPELINE
Batote-Doda via Sudh Mahadev
HIGHWAYS IN PIPELINE
Jammu-Akhnoor Highway to be extended right up to Poonch via Rajouri.
Baramulla-Rafiabad-Kupwara-Tanghdar Highway in Kashmir Valley.
Baltal-Panchtarni-Chandanwari-Pahalgam-Batakut-Martand-Khanabal Highway.
Srinagar-Shopian-Qazigund Highway.
Kargil-Zanaskar Highway in Kargil District.
Leh-Debring-Mulden Highway in Leh District.