JAMMU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi may inaugurate the much awaited Chenani-Nashri Tunnel formally on April 2 in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Modi is reportedly arriving Udhampur on April 2 and will proceed for Chenani to inaugurate the mega project,” reliable sources said.
If all goes well, the date of inauguration of the tunnel is almost final.
Meanwhile, the Chenani-Nashri tunnel, which was thrown open for week-long trial run has been closed for vehicular movement.
The special operation group of the J&K Police is tomorrow taking over the tunnel for security reasons. Sources informed that the tunnel will later handed over to SPG personnel till the PM’s visit.
Asia’s largest Tunnel will cut down the distance between twin capital cities of Jammu and Kashmir State by around 38 KM.
The hi-tech tunnel is fitted with all modern facilities while Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) Company has setup a well-equipped fully computerised operation room to keep surveillance on the movement of vehicles inside the twin tubes. In all, 124 CCTV cameras have been installed at equal intervals of 75 meters, three-tier system has been fitted to light-up the tunnels round the clock and a new innovative ‘Save our Soul System’ (SOS) has also been introduced to make contact with the team sitting in the Operation Room in case of an emergency besides effective fire fighting gadgets and hyper-sensitive ventilation system to ensure hassle free journey with convenience, an official here said.
Maximum speed limit permitted inside twin tunnel tubes is 50 KM per hour with head lights on at low beam and the containers carrying inflammable material are banned from entering the tunnel.