Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India’s longest road tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Sunday, making it operational for traffic.
Here is all you need to know about the longest road tunnel:
*Imran Beigh, a 36-year-old Jammu-based budding infrastructure businessman, and his team built half of the 9.2-km Nashri tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in a short span of two years.
* The Union Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh has said the tunnel will save fuel worth nearly Rs 99 crores a year i.e, fuel worth Rs 27 lakh is likely to be saved per day.
*The tunnel will reduce the travel time between the two state capitals of Jammu and Srinagar by two hours. The distance from Chenani and Nashri will now be 10.9 km (between two ends of the tunnel), instead of the existing 41 km.
*The tunnel, constructed at a cost of Rs. 2,519 crore, will ensure a safe and swift passage for commuters, even in adverse weather conditions.
*The Chenani-Nashri tunnel is among the longest highway tunnels in Asia.
*The Chenani-Nashri tunnel is India’s first and the world’s sixth tunnel to have transverse ventilation system, providing fresh air to passengers.
*The ventilation system of this tunnel is enabled by ABB drives and controlled by ABB software. ABB is the global leader in industrial technology and operates in approximately 100 countries, including India, according to its official website.
*The tunnel, at an altitude of 1,200 meters, is a part of National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI’s) project between Jammu and Srinagar, along the National Highway 44.
*The two tubes of the tunnel are internally connected through 29 cross-passages (each after a gap of 300 meters) and the escape tunnel will be used exclusively by pedestrians.
*A control room will monitor the movement of the vehicles and come to immediate rescue in case of emergency.