In a momentous development, authorities on Wednesday afternoon started the trial run of vehicular traffic through the 8.5 km double tube four lane Banihal-Qazigund tunnel on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.
The tunnel cutting across the Pir Panjal mountain range will reduce the travel distance by 16 km on the highway.
The work on the crucial tunnel was started in 2011 by the Andhra Pradesh based ‘Navyug Engineering Company’ after approval by the NHAI at an estimated cost of over Rs 2000 crore as per officials.
As per the plan, one hundred vehicles were allowed from Banihal towards Qazigund.
Chief Manager of Navyug Engineering Company, Muneeb Ahmad Tak further informed that the trial run which was originally scheduled for an hour from 4-5 pm, has now been extended till 6 pm.
The tunnel is expected to be thrown open for public in the next few weeks.
