Vacations! They bring to you those times you try to find in the monotonous life of eat, work, sleep
and repeat, when you seek pleasure from outings, exploring places that you’ve never been to.
Well!
My vacation has been one of that ‘breaking the monotony’ time. I happened to visit my father to
Srinagar and hence take a view of newly inaugurated Chenani-Nashri tunnel.
The route to Srinagar from Jammu was a seven to eight hours travel via road, keeping in view the
traffic, the hilly terrain and its turns, and oh! of course, the scenic beauty of Kashmir.
But, this route has been cut short by approximately two hours by the new tunnel road connecting
Udhampur district with Ramban district on Jammu-Srinagar Highway.
The venture of India’s first longest and Asia’s second largest, nine kilometres long tunnel way is to
reduce the tiresome travel of the commuters.
It’s a two-lane tunnel, that connects Chenani with Nashri in Ramban area and slashes the 31
kilometres of the journey and reduce the travel time by two hours.
One thing, I personally felt is that it has reduced the possibility of traffic jams on the Chenani-Kud-
Patnitop-Batote-Nashri stretch of the NH-1. It reminds me of how badly I used to imagine if I could
just fly from above this stretch and avoid all the traffic jams whenever previously I used to visit my
father.
This tunnel marked with strategic expansion, not only is a relief for the people in the sense that it
reduces time and effort and a sight that pleases the eyes but it also promises fuel savings to the
tune of Rs.27 lacs per day.
India’s longest highway tunnel has riveted Rs. 2519 crores in its brilliant construction and boasts
features like Integrated Traffic Control System, Video Surveillance System and FM Rebroadcast
System. Amazing. Isn’t it?
People like my mother who feel nauseous while travelling in the hilly terrain, this tunnel is a saviour
my friend. Its straight, reduces those hilly turns, all bright and quite nicely equipped to remove
pollution from inside and hence the nauseous feeling
The tunnel as I saw, was very brightly lit up from the inside. It is broad enough and I had an
experience of sheer amazement. My eyes didnt blink for a second.(To exaggerate my emotions).
To all those reading this article and planning a trip to somewhere in these vacations, pay a visit to
the beautiful, Heaven on the Earth, Kashmir paving the way through the epitome of sheer brilliance
of architecture, the Chenani-Nashri highway tunnel NH-1.
~Author ~
Chitralekha Chander
I am Chitralekha. I am 21 and a psychologist in making and I occasionally love to write. Travelling to new places and basking in the beautiful ambiance makes me happy. And writing about these trips gives me immense pleasure.
