Title - Banihal-Qazigund rail tunnel ready for public use

Banihal: The 11 km long railway tunnel between Banihal and Qazigund is ready with nearly 200 CCTVs, 25 telephone booths and a number of auto sensors installed in it to ensure a hassle free journey for commuters."192 CCTVs, 25 exhaust fans, 25 telephone booths and a number of auto sensors to indicate fire and other troubles have been installed inside the tunnel," IRCON officials constructing the vital Kashmir rail project told PTI ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scheduled visit on June 25.Singh, along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and other leaders from the Centre and state, is scheduled to be present when the railway tunnel is inaugurated on June 25.A control room set up at Banihal railway station will monitor all activities inside the tunnel built in the Pir-Panjal range, officials said.Keeping in mind any eventualities, engineers have also constructed a six metre wide motor road along with the railway track.
"A six metre wide motor road along with railway track has been constructed inside tunnel for rescue and relief operations in case of any emergency," officials said, adding that the high-tech Pir-Panjal Railway tunnel was water and fire proof.
Built at a cost of Rs 1,300 crore by the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), the 11.3 km long tunnel will connect Kashmir Valley with the Banihal town of Jammu division and will be India's longest and Asia's second longest railway transport tunnel, officials said.
It has taken seven years to complete the entire project, they added. With completion of Banihal-Qazigund tunnel, another leg of the 273 km long Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail project, which has 911 minor and major bridges apart from 114 km long tunnels, has been completed.
The yet to be completed first phase of the project connecting Udhampur with Katra is 25 km long, has 38 bridges and 11 km long tunnels.
The KatraQazigund section is 129 km long, with 68 railway bridges and 103 km long tunnels.
Third phase of the prestigious project between Qazigund and Baramulla is 119 km in length, with 811 minor and major railway bridges. However, there is no tunnel in this section, which is in the Kashmir valley, officials said.
"The QazigundBanihal section will reduce distance between the two divisions of Kashmir and Jammu by about 17 km," HCC project manager for the railway tunnel, Sarnappa Yalal, said.
"Problems faced by commuters travelling between Banihal and Qazigund due to closure of Jawahar Tunnel in the winters will largely be mitigated by running train services between Banihal and Baramulla.
"Moreover, distance between the two towns will be reduced from 35 km road length to 17.72 km rail route," he said.