Rishikesh-Karnprayag Railway Project: The longest tunnel was completed in Janasu, CM Dhami and Railway Minister also reached

Under the Rishikesh-Karnprayag railway project, the T-8 and T-8M tunnels being built between Devprayag and Janasu in Pauri have been completed today. State-of-the-art tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have been used in the construction of the tunnel. While other tunnels of the project are being constructed using traditional drill and blast technology. CM Pushkar Singh Dhami and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav also reached Janasu railway station for the program. This is the longest rail tunnel of the project. Garhwal MP Anil Baluni and Cabinet Minister Dr Dhan Singh Rawat were also present on the occasion.

A total of 17 tunnels are being built on this 125 km long broad gauge rail line from Rishikesh to Karnaprayag, out of which about 104 km of rail route will pass through the tunnels. Of these, only three tunnels are such, whose length is less than 3 km. The length of the remaining 12 tunnels is more than 3 km. As per tunnel safety rules, an exit tunnel is also being built parallel to every tunnel of more than three kilometres in length. The main tunnel and the exit tunnel have been connected through a cross passage at a distance of 375 metres, so that passengers can be evacuated safely in case of an emergency.

14.57 km long double tube tunnels

These two (double tube) tunnels being built between Devprayag and Janasu are 14.57 kilometres long in total. Due to the unique geological structure of this area, special TBM machines were ordered from Germany to excavate these tunnels. For the construction of these tunnels, a vertical shaft (well-like tunnel) has also been built at a distance of about 1.525 kilometres from Janasu, through which the excavation work was done.