Chenani-Nashri Highway Tunnel: All You Need Know

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the country's longest road tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir. The 'Chenani-Nashri Highway Tunnel,' which we told you about earlier in March, connects Jammu and Srinagar and is now officially open for public usage. The new tunnel route is over 9 km long and is a part of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. Here are 10 other key facts that you need to know about India's longest highway tunnel.

1. The new 'Chenani-Nashri Highway Tunnel' is a twin-tube tunnel that is a part of the 286-km-long four-lane project of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. The Government of India has invested about Rs. 3,720 crore in the development of this new twin-tune tunnel.
2. The 'Chenani-Nashri Highway Tunnel' is not only India's longest highway tunnel but also Asia's longest bi-directional highway tunnel.
3. The tunnel is 9 km long officially making it the longest road tunnel in India. It is a two-lane main tunnel with a parallel escape tunnel of the same length located at an elevation of 1200 meters. It is located in the lower Himalayan mountain range, between Udhampur and Ramban in Jammu & Kashmir.
   

   Chenani-Nashri Highway Tunnel Route

4. The tunnel is expected to reduce the travel time between the two state capitals - Jammu and Srinagar - by two-and-a-half hours. The distance between Chenani and Nashri, which is currently 41 km, will come down to 10.9 km, which is over 30 km less than what it was before.
5. It is also an all-weather tunnel that ensured to offer safe passage on a route that often sees heavy traffic jams and disruptions due to landslides, snow, sharp curves, the breakdown of vehicles and accidents.
6. It is also the first highway tunnel in the country to get the world class 'integrated tunnel control system' that allows ventilation, fire control, signals, communication and electrical systems to be automatically actuated. The tunnel is fitted with intelligent traffic mechanism which comes with a fully automatic smart control system that requires no human intervention for its operations.
   

   Chenani-Nashri Highway Tunnel gets about 124 CCTV cameras and advanced scanners

7. As for safety, about 124 CCTV cameras have been installed at equal intervals of 75 meters feeding information to the operation room. The tunnel is also equipped with advanced scanners to ward off any security threat. And for better visibility, the tunnel has been equipped with three-tier lighting system the works round the clock.
8. The project is also environment-friendly. The time saving on the Jammu- Srinagar route will further result in a fuel saving of approximately Rs. 27 lakhs per day. Besides, the construction of the tunnel has avoided large - scale deforestation.
9. The project has provided employment to over 2,000 unskilled and skilled youth of Jammu and Kashmir as 94 percent of the workforce was from the state. Around 600 to 900 people from across the country also worked on this project in 3 shifts over the past 4 years.
10. There will be toll charges for accessing the tunnel and the rates are expected to be as follows -