The construction of tunnel T-5 on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway (NH 44) to bypass Panthyal stretch is nearing completion.
The 800-metre-long T5 tunnel is part of a highway realignment project that would put an end to the ‘phantom of shooting stones’ and traffic disruptions on the Panthyal stretch of Ramban district.
The shooting stone is a fragment of rock that rolls down a mountain slope and hits the Jammu-Srinagar Highway (NH 44) with a shooting speed.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has accelerated its work so that it will be operational by 15 March 2023.
The tunnel will not reduce the distance, it will completely bypass the difficult Panthyal portion.
The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is the valley’s only all-weather road to the outside world.
Three tunnels ranging in length from 400 to 800 metres were to be built as part of the realignment package between Ramban and Banihal to bypass crucial stretches of the route.
“The stretch at Panthyal was the most problematic one on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH44) because of the shooting stones, but the NHAI has promised to hand over the T5 tunnel to us by 15 March. It would put an end to the problem of shooting stones and subsequent disruptions in traffic movement,” said Ramban deputy commissioner Mussarat Islam, reports Hindustan Times.