Identify the INCORRECT statements about tunnels in Jammu and Kashmir- I. Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel is a 9 km long, twin-t…

Question

Identify the INCORRECT statements about tunnels in Jammu and Kashmir-

I. Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel is a 9 km long, twin-tube, all-weather road tunnel connecting Udhampur and Ramban.

II. Tunnel T50, a 12.77 km engineering feat connecting Khari and Sumber in Jammu & Kashmir, stands as one of the longest transportation tunnels constructed under the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project.

1. A. I only (Correct answer)
2. B. II only
3. C. Both I and II
4. D. Neither I nor II

Correct Answer

Option A — I only

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is I only.

Key Points

• The answer to this question was revised from option D to option A. The question asks which statements are INCORRECT.
• Statement I is INCORRECT, and therefore the answer. The Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel — formerly the Chenani-Nashri Tunnel — is not a twin-tube tunnel. It consists of a single main traffic tube of 13 m diameter with a parallel escape tunnel of 6 m diameter connected by cross passages every 300 m. A genuine twin-tube design carries traffic in both tubes. Its length is also 9.28 km, described in the statement as "9 km".
• Statement II is CORRECT, and therefore not part of the answer. Tunnel T-50 (also designated T-49 in project documents), at 12.77 km between Khari and Sumber, is indeed among the longest transportation tunnels built under the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project — in fact the longest transportation tunnel in India.

Additional Information

• The Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel:
  • India's longest road tunnel on NH-44, inaugurated in April 2017.
  • Connects Chenani in Udhampur district to Nashri in Ramban district, bypassing the snow-bound Patnitop stretch.
  • Reduces the Jammu-Srinagar journey by about 30 km and roughly two hours.
  • Was India's first tunnel with a fully integrated Transverse Ventilation System, along with SCADA-controlled monitoring, and was renamed in 2019.
• Other major tunnels of the region:
  • Atal Tunnel (9.02 km) at Rohtang in Himachal Pradesh — the world's longest highway tunnel above 10,000 feet.
  • Zojila Tunnel (14.15 km), under construction on the Srinagar-Leh axis, which will be Asia's longest bi-directional road tunnel.
  • Sungal and Khooni Nallah tunnels on the Jammu-Srinagar four-laning project.
  • Z-Morh Tunnel (6.5 km) at Gagangir, providing all-weather access to Sonamarg.
• Exam pointer: in "identify the incorrect statement" questions, technical qualifiers such as *twin-tube*, *cable-stayed* or *arch* are where the error is usually planted — the numbers are often right while the descriptive term is wrong.