BRO achieves breakthrough; conducts final blast of 700-m Nowshera tunnel

Rajouri, Jan 28: In a landmark achievement, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has completed the digging work of the Nowshera tunnel as a part of its prestigious project of Jammu-Rajouri Poonch National Highway up-gradation

A breakthrough ceremony was organised on Sunday as the south portal of the tunnel was connected to the north portal.

Director General Border Roads, Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan was among the senior officials who attended the breakthrough ceremony. He hailed the efforts of manpower to complete the work within the scheduled period and described it as a golden achievement as the work was completed without any untoward incident.

The 700-m long tunnel has its south end at Nowshera link road while its northern end is at Dalian. Once completed, it is expected to reduce the highway distance by around ten kilometres.

In an official statement, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), while terming the Akhnoor-Rajouri-Poonch road, commonly known as Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch NHW, as the “Golden Arc Road” said, “It is a very old and highly strategic two hundred kilometres highway stretch, which connects the region including areas of Akhnoor sub division of Jammu, besides border districts of Rajouri and Poonch.”

The highway is presently under upgradation on a 'two-lanes with paved shoulders' basis and four tunnels are being constructed on this stretch.

“The construction of this pivotal infrastructure project National Highway-144A reached a significant milestone today as the breakthrough ceremony for the Nowshera tunnel took place,” the BRO said, adding, “The tunnel spanning an impressive 700 meters is a crucial link, connecting Akhnoor and Poonch.”

DG Border Roads, Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan, while attending the breakthrough ceremony, underscored the importance of the project signifying a major step forward in enhancing regional connectivity and facilitating smoother transportation along the National Highway.

During his address, Lt Gen Srinivasan mentioned that BRO was spearheading crucial road projects to connect remote areas with major centres in the Jammu-Poonch region.

He said that work on this tunnel was advancing rapidly. “The breakthrough has been completed well before the expected time which shows that manpower has executed the work with zeal and hard work,” he said.

Rajeev Singh, the Tunnel site engineer, said, “With the breakthrough work, tunnel digging work has been completed which is a landmark development.”

“It is like a festival today for manpower working in this tunnel construction,” Rajeev Singh said. “The incident-free completion of tunnel digging is a dream for every worker and senior and this dream has been achieved,” he said.

Regarding this project, the site engineer said, the finishing work of this tunnel would be completed in the next six months after which the tunnel could be made operational.

UPGRADED NATIONAL HIGHWAY TO BE A GAME-CHANGER

Director General Border Roads said, “BRO is working hard to maintain the required pace of project work and is hopeful to complete the work well before the scheduled period in 2026.”

While interacting with media persons during the Nowshera tunnel breakthrough ceremony, DG Border Roads said that the Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch highway link work was on track.

“We are constructing three tunnels while work on the fourth tunnel will start soon and the remaining work is also going on. At this pace, we will be able to complete the work as per the scheduled period by 2026. But we are working hard to get the work completed well before the scheduled period,” he asserted.

On being asked about defence infrastructure along LoC, DG BRO mentioned that the development of defence infrastructure was a continuous process and the Border Roads Organisation was committed to strengthening defence infrastructure by building and upgrading strategic roads all along the IB, LoC and LAC. He further said, “BRO/Project Sampark is steadfast in its commitment to Create, Connect, Care and save lives of the citizens of its area of responsibility. It believes in the adage “Roads build a nation” and has rededicated itself to the construction of border road infrastructures to spur socio-economic progress.”

FOUR TUNNELS WILL CHANGE FACE OF JAMMU-RAJOURI-POONCH NH

He informed that the work on two tunnels was in an advanced stage, work on the third tunnel also continued while the work on the fourth tunnel would start soon.

Construction of four tunnels between Akhnoor and Poonch on the Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch National Highway is scheduled to be completed by 2026.

The highway, having strategic importance, connects Jammu with Rajouri and Poonch LoC districts while it also connects Jammu with Kashmir via Mughal Road.

Under the new highway, the road stretch will be two-lane with paved shoulders dimension while there will be four tunnels between Akhnoor and Poonch.

These tunnels include the Kandi tunnel in the Chowki Choura area; the Sumbal tunnel between Kali Dhar and Chowki Choura; the Nowshera tunnel near Nowshera town and the Bhimber Gali tunnel between Sanjiote and Jarran Wali Gali.

Works on two tunnels viz. Kandi tunnel and Nowshera tunnel are in an advanced stage. The breakthrough ceremony of the Kandi tunnel was held on November 25 last year while BRO achieved the breakthrough of the Nowshera tunnel on Sunday.

Besides, work on the Sumbal tunnel is going on rapidly and its breakthrough is expected by this year’s end whereas work on the Bhimber Gali tunnel is expected to start soon.

“This is for the first time that tunnels are being constructed between Jammu and Poonch which will give a new face to surface transportation. Tunnelling is the best means to overcome hardships like snow-clad mountains, high ridges and facilitates hassle-free movement in the shortest time,” Director General Border Roads, Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan said, adding that BRO had stepped ahead in tunnelling work, while referring to the construction of Atal tunnel.