As many as 27 tunnel projects exceeding 1.5 km are currently at the Detailed Project Report (DPR) stage, while 14 such projects are under implementation on National Highways across India, Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Jairam Gadkari has informed Parliament.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha earlier this week, Gadkari noted that the ministry is primarily responsible for the development and maintenance of National Highways.
Regionally, Jammu and Kashmir has five projects at the DPR stage, followed by Uttarakhand with five and Himachal Pradesh with four, indicating a strong pipeline of tunnel infrastructure in hill states where terrain constraints often necessitate underground connectivity.
Beyond these states, the projects at DPR stage are distributed across several other regions.
Ladakh has three projects, while Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Maharashtra have two projects each.
Additionally, Assam, Delhi, Karnataka and Kerala have one project each, reflecting the geographically diverse spread of upcoming long tunnel infrastructure on the National Highway network.
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On the implementation side, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir lead with four projects each, while Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand have one project each under execution.
These states together account for all 14 tunnel projects currently under implementation, as per government data.
The ministry added that DPR examinations are undertaken in accordance with prescribed Indian Roads Congress standards and government directives to ensure technical soundness and long-term sustainability as part of project appraisal and approval.
Following critical reviews of recent tunnel collapse incidents during construction, the government has issued comprehensive guidelines covering tunnel alignment studies as well as the prevention and mitigation of tunnel collapses, establishing a systematic approach for detailed geological and geotechnical investigations, the minister said.
“The examination of DPRs to ensure technical soundness and long-term sustainability is an integral part of project appraisal and approval in execution of tunnel projects,” the minister said.
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