PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Banihal-Qazigund tunnel: Interesting facts to know

Prime minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Banihal-Qazigund road tunnel project and laid the foundation of initiatives worth around Rs 20,000 crore in Jammu & Kashmir.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jammu and Kashmir to attend the National Panchayati Raj Day celebrations. PM Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for several development projects worth over Rs 20,000 crore during his visit. One of the multiple important projects to be inaugurated during this visit is the Banihal-Qazigund Road tunnel.

Besides, other projects started after this visit, like three road packages of the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, the Ratle and Kwar Hydroelectric project and the Kwar Hydroelectric Project. But here, we have focused specifically on the Banihal-Qazigund Road tunnel and the amazing facts surrounding it. Here are all the facts you need to know about the Banihal-Qazigund Road tunnel:

-The Banihal-Qazigund Road tunnel is constructed at the cost of over Rs 3,100 crore

-The Banihal-Qazigund Road tunnel is a two-tube tunnel, one for each direction of travel, with a cross passage every 500 metres for maintenance and emergency evacuation.

-The 8.45-kilometre tunnel would shorten the distance between Banihal and Qazigund by 16 kilometres and cut travel time in half.

-The tunnel will aid in the establishment of an all-weather link between Jammu and Kashmir, bringing the two regions closer together.

-This project's goal was to create an all-weather route for traffic in the Union Territory, which would otherwise be impeded during the winter months due to snowfall and landslides.

-The tunnel, which is 5,800 feet above sea level, will take the place of the Jawahar tunnel as an all-weather, 24-hour traffic option.

-Build–Operate–Transfer (BOT) was used to construct the Banihal-Qazigund tunnel. The BOT is a project delivery mechanism for large-scale infrastructure projects in which a private firm receives a concession from the public sector (or, on rare occasions, the private sector) to fund, design, construct, own, and operate a facility specified in the concession contract.

-The Banihal-Qazigund Road tunnel project proponent can recoup its investment, operating, and maintenance costs through this public-private collaboration.

With inputs from ANI