Excelsior Correspondent
UDHAMPUR, June 2: The work on Escape Tunnel of India’s longest Chenani-Nashri road tunnel completed today with the execution of “Connecting Blast” around 5.30 pm this evening amidst thunderous applause and moments of joy.
This blast took place in presence of senior most officers of the district administration and management of the Leighton India Ltd, who had arrived here from Australia.
DIG Doda-Ramban Range Ashkoor Wani pressed the button for connecting blast in presence of Project Director IL&FS, John Denis, Sr Program Director J S Rathore, MD IL&FS, Senior Consultant IL&FS Sewa Singh Mankotia and others.
According to R P Singh, Project Director National Highway Authority of India, commissioning of Escape Tunnel will greatly help in starting work at various points simultaneously for the Main Tunnel thereby completing the entire project ahead of schedule.
This Escape Tunnel will help the Engineers to execute work simultaneously at eight different points on the Main Tunnel, thereby increasing the numbers of men and machinery involved manifolds at one particular time, he explained.
As already reported by the Excelsior, the Main tunnel is being connected with the completed parallel tunnel via 29 cross passages in which there are 8 machinery passages also. Each cross passage is at a distance of every three hundred meters. Even as schedule date of completion of this Rs 2519 crores project is May 2016, the executing agency Leighton India Ltd. is hopeful of finishing the job by December 2015. The tunnel will reduce the road distance between Chenani and Nashri from 41 Kms to 11 Kms besides making it a fair-weather road.
Excavation of the main tunnel has been completed more than 70 percent and it will be finished by December this year following which the electrical power distribution, ventilation lighting, supervisory control and data acquisition, Fire control system, Video surveillance, traffic control, emergency call and communication works will take around one year for completion.
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