RAMBAN/JAMMU, Dec 18: The 270-kilometer Jammu-Srinagar national highway has “pressure and bulges” developing on its sidewalls, which has forced the suspension of excavation work for the Mehar tunnel, officials announced on Monday. Over a year and a half ago, work on the 780-meter C-type tunnel began in order to avoid the Mehar-Cafeteria section of Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district, which is prone to slides. After a significant landslip damaged the tunnel’s mouth in June of this year, excavation on the Cafeteria Morh side of the tunnel was put on hold. Thus far, excavation work has covered almost 400 metres.An official from DMR Construction, the company doing the construction, stated that after “pressure and bulges” were found on the side walls, the excavation work was halted for the safety of the workers. On December 12, all equipment and labour were removed from the tunnel project. A senior DMR Construction official, Vinay Kumar, stated that the company has notified the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and that joint teams of experts and designers are expected to visit the tunnel for a comprehensive investigation. Due to the slow progress of the four-lane expansion of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, multiple deadlines have already been missed since the project began in 2011.
