Comments
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation, the country’s longest road tunnel built on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, which will cut short the distance between Jammu and Srinagar by nearly 30 km.
“The Prime Minister will inaugurate the Chenani-Nashri tunnel on JK highway on April 2,” Union Minister of State in PMO, Jitendra Singh told PTI today.
Modi will also address a public rally after the dedication of the tunnel project to the nation, he said.
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 the lower Himalayan mountain range, and cost Rs 3,720 crore, officials said.
The tunnel, which is located at an elevation of 1200 metres, will be the first in India to be equipped with a world class “integrated tunnel control system” through which ventilation, fire control, signals, communication and electrical systems will be automatically actuated.
It will reduce the travel time between the two state capitals of Jammu and Srinagar by two-and-a-half hours.
The road distance from Chenani and Nashri will now be 10.9 km, instead of the existing 41 km, they said.
IL&FS is all set to hand over 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.
Once the tunnel becomes operational, it will reduce traffic jams on National Highway-1A that occur due to snowfall and avalanches in winter at Patnitop, he said.
Travel will cost an LMV vehicle Rs 55 on one side and Rs 85 for a to-and-fro journey and Rs 1,870 for one month travel, while bigger vehicles such as mini buses will have to pay Rs 90 as a 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.
Rathore said Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) Company has set up a well equipped fully computerised operation room for surveillance of vehicles inside the twin tubes.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.