The construction of India’s longest tunnel road in Jammu-Srinagar highway is completed now. This tunnel is an incredible piece of engineering. It begins at Chenani in Udampur district, Jammu on the NH44 (earlier known as NH1A) and ends at Nashri in Ramban district, Srinagar. This 9.2km long road tunnel built at the cost of Rs. 3,720 crores, is located at an altitude of 1200m above sea level on challenging and arduous Himalayan terrain.
The tunnel construction began on 23rd May, 2011. The width of the main road in this tunnel is 13m and there is also a parallel 6m wide escape tunnel which will be used in cases of accidents or blockage. For every 300m, there are cross-roads which are inter-connected with the escape tunnel. There are 29 such cross-roads here. In case of emergency, there are telephones and first-aid kits provided every 150m. If any passenger experience suffocation or in case of an accident, ambulance and a crane will be able to access the area through the escape tunnel. Mobile coverage is also available inside the tunnel. It is fully equipped with gadgets to face any emergency. This tunnel has been built with an ultra-modern technology called ‘New Austrian Tunneling Method ‘or ‘NATM’ by a company called Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) Ltd. This will shorten the distance by 30.11km and thus reduce the travel time by 2 hours. You may wonder why would it take 2 hours to cover 30km, but remember the terrain is extremely difficult to travel. On a bullet, I had to travel for 6 hours to cover a distance of 110km to reach Patnitop. Now if we choose the tunnel to travel, we can save 2 hours by bypassing Kud, Patnitop and Batote, locations where the highway is prone to being blocked by snow and landslides. Though it saves time, the travelers are going to miss out seeing the enchanting beauty of Patnitop. Let’s hope the government will retain the old road. Travelers going to Srinagar and Leh-Ladak via Jammu-Srinagar highway, can use this tunnel. The other important tunnel in Jammu-Srinagar highway, is the Jawahar tunnel which is about 2.85 in length. Built in 1950, this tunnel is known as the gateway to Kashmir valley
