New Delhi: To cut short the distance between Jammu and Srinagar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday will dedicate the country's longest road tunnel built on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway.
The tunnel will reduce the travel time between Jammu and Srinagar by two-and-a-half hours (will minimise the distance between Jammu and Srinagar by nearly 30 km).
The new tunnel, which is located at an elevation of 1200 meters, will be the first in the country to be equipped with world class "integrated tunnel control system" through which ventilation, fire control, signals, communication and electrical systems will be automatically actuated.
Some facts about the project
- 9.28 km: Length of the tunnel. The world’s longest tunnel (24.5 km) is in Norway
- 30.11 km: Reduction in travel distance between Jammu and Srinagar. Travel time will go down by 2 hours
- Rs 27 Lakh: Cost of fuel that will be saved daily
- RS 3,720 crore: Construction cost of the tunnel is Rs 1,200 crore more than the initial cost
- May 23, 2011: Date on which works started on the tunnel
- Main tunnel is 13 metre in diameter, parallel escape tunnel has 6 metre diameter and are connected by 29 cross passages at 300-metre interval
- The work on the 9.2 km-long twin-tube tunnel, which is part of a 286-km-long four-lane project on the highway, started on May 23, 2011 in lower Himalayan mountain range.
The road distance between Chenani and Nashri will now be reduced to 10.9 km, instead of the existing 41 km.
Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) is all set to handover the tunnel project to National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) soon after its formal inauguration by the prime minister.
"The formal trial run was successfully completed for peak, off peak hours between March 9 and March 15," Project Director, IL&FS, J S Rathore said.
Travel will cost an LMV Vehicle Rs 55 on one side and Rs 85 for to-and-fro journey and Rs 1,870 for one month travel, while bigger vehicles like mini buses will have pay Rs 90 as one side toll and Rs 135 for to-and-fro toll.
Buses and trucks will have to pay Rs 190 as one side toll and Rs 285 as two-side toll.
Once the tunnel becomes operational, it will reduce the traffic jams on National Highway-1A that occur due to snowfall and avalanches in winter at Patnitop.
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