Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel is a road tunnel at elevation of in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in India below the Banihal Pass in the Pir Panjal mountain range in lower Himalayas, on National Highway 44. Its Construction started in 2011 and was completed in 2021. It is one of the longest tunnel in India, with a length of The tunnel reduces the distance between the cities of Srinagar and Jammu by 16 km. It also reduces the travel time between these cities from 6 hours to 5.5 hours.
The tunnel consists of two parallel tunnels, one for each direction of travel. Each tunnel is wide, and each has two lanes of road. The two tunnels are interconnected by a passage every for maintenance and emergency evacuation. The tunnel has forced ventilation to extract smoke and stale air and infuse fresh air. It has state-of-the-art monitoring and control systems for security. Built at a cost of ₹2,100 crore, it is expected that vehicles will have to pay a toll to use the tunnel.
Construction
Construction of this tunnel started in 2011 along with the project to widen NH 44 (which was known as NH 1A before all the national highways were renumbered in the year 2010) to four lanes. The existing road tunnel below the Banihal pass (Jawahar tunnel), has been a bottleneck on the road due to its elevation of and limited traffic capacity. The new tunnel's average elevation at 1,790 m is 400 m lower than the existing Jawahar tunnel's elevation, making it less prone to avalanches. The tunnel has reduced the road distance between Banihal and Qazigund by 16 km (10 mile).
As of May 2016, 7.2 km of the 8.5 km had been excavated. As of February 2017, the tunnel excavation was close to completion. February 2018: Boring work of one tunnel had been completed. May 2018: Boring of the entire 8.5 km tunnel was completed on 20 May 2018. Jan 2019:Tunnel may open for traffic by March 2020. November 2019: Work progressing at slow pace; tunnel to be opened for traffic in March 2021. 25 February 2021:Tunnel likely to open for traffic in April 2021 5 April 2021: opening delayed until end of April 2021. July 2021: Tunnel could be inaugurated on the independence day by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. August 2021: Tunnel was opened by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Location
The Southern portal (end) of the tunnel is at and the Northern portal (end) of the tunnel is at .
Safety measures
The tunnel is made on Build–operate–transfer basis. It is built with an exhaust system to remove gas and bring in fresh air. It has 126 jet fans, 234 CCTV cameras and a firefighting system installed.
See also
Jawahar Tunnel
Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel
Chattergala Tunnel
Zoji-la Tunnel
Z-Morh Tunnel
Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel
NH 44 (former name NH 1A before renumbering of all national highways)