Tunnels to cut Jammu-Srinagar travel time by 5 hr

High speed travel from Jammu to Srinagar by road, even during harsh winter or at the height of monsoon, is possible due to building of two twin tunnels on the NH-1A. The tunnels, said to become Asia's longest all-weather twin tunnels, will reduce the dist­ance between the two towns by almost 51 km, lessening the tra­vel time by at least five hours. The tunnels will not only make the journey less ris­ky, but will also help boost to­urism in the border state that saw a revival of the industry this year after a long gap. The stretch is also of immense strategic importance. The tunnels are being cons­tr­ucted by the National Highways Authority India (NHAI) at two points – Quazigund to Banihal and Chenani to Nishri, which are part of the widening of the Jammu-Srinagar highway project.