WINDING ROADS UNWIND | Travel time slashed: 348-meter Sherbibi-Shalgari tunnel opens for traffic

Ramban, Dec, 27: A newly-constructed 348-meter two-lane Shalgari-Sherbibi tunnel, New Tunnel 2 (NT2) and road stretch leading to the tunnel has been completed and was opened for two-way traffic on Wednesday.

An engineer of the Chenab Valley Power Projects Pvt Ltd (CVPPPL), a company engaged in the construction works by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) said that the work on the tunnel, NT2, was completed and was opened for two-way traffic on Wednesday evening.

The work on the Shalgari-Sherbibi NT2 on the Ramban-Banihal section of the four-lane project was started in the year 2022 and the work was completed on a fast-track basis on the directions of the NHAI and the administration.

Officials said that the tunnel was opened for two-way traffic on a trial basis.

All the traffic was diverted through the newly constructed Shalgari-Sherbibi NT2 on the Ramban-Banihal section of the four-lane project on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

The tunnel would bypass a curvy stretch and help reduce the travel time between Banihal and Ramban on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

The road expansion work on the old road alignment for an additional two-lane road stretch was also started.

Traffic officials said that traffic is plying smoothly through the newly constructed Sahlgari-Sherbibi tunnel.

However, it has not been officially announced yet by the authorities here.

On the other hand, the work on the Mehar Cafeteria Morh tunnel near Ramban on the Udhampur-Ramban section has remained suspended since mid-November 2023.

The subcontractor company DMR of NHAI stopped the tunnel construction work mid-way after completing 50 percent tunnel work.

NHAI officials had said that the work on the Mehar Cafeteria tunnel was temporarily suspended.

According to the construction company, the work was stopped after bulges occurred inside 400 meters of the tunnel in November 2023.