Movement of material, workers disrupted; deadline extended
The prolonged unrest in Kashmir has badly affected the completion of the country’s longest road tunnel between Chenani and Nashri on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. The authorities have extended the deadline to the end of November, but with a rider that the tunnel would be thrown open to traffic only after normalisation of the situation in Kashmir.
The unrest has slowed down the movement of material and people to and from Kashmir and thus, the most awaited 9.2-km-long Chenani-Nashri tunnel may take some more time to be thrown open for vehicular movement.The construction work is being carried out by Beig Constructions, a Kashmir-based company. Most of the suppliers and workers involved in the project are from the Valley.
According to the authorities, the work is being done on the pavements, lighting and exhaust system of the tunnel, which is expected to be completed by November end. Most of the electrical material has to be brought from Kashmir, which is being delayed because of the curfew and clashes in the Valley.
A highly placed source in the authorities informed Kashmir Post, “The inauguration of the tunnel will be delayed due to technical as well as political reasons. As most of the manpower and raw material comes from Kashmir, technically the unrest will affect its completion. On the other hand, the Prime Minister will not come to the state for inauguration of the tunnel until the situation gets normal.”
The construction work was started on May 23, 2011 with the deadline of May 20 this year, which was extended up to June. It was again extended to July, August, October and now November. However, according to the sources, the National Highway Authority of India may have to extend the deadline again.
The Jammu-Srinagar national highway is the lifeline of the Valley, Ladakh and several districts of Jammu region on which more than 15,000 vehicles ply on a daily basis. The vehicular movement gets disrupted at the time of rain or snow. The construction of the Chenani-Nashri tunnel is expected to allow an all-weather road.
The NHAI has spent Rs 3,720 crores on this project. The two tubes (main tunnel and escape tunnel) are internally connected through 29 cross-passages (each after a gap of 300 metres). The escape tunnel would exclusively be used for pedestrians. This state-of-the-art tunnel will also have parking spots after a specific distance to tow away or shift vehicles in case of a breakdown.
