CDS (II) 2023 General Knowledge · Question 109 of 120

Correct — C, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel. At 9.28 kilometres this is India's longest road tunnel. It was built between Chenani and Nashri on National Highway 44 in Jammu and Kashmir and was inaugurated on 2 April 2017, running at about 1,200 metres through the lower Himalaya and cutting out the long, weather-prone climb over the Patnitop ridge on the Jammu-Srinagar road. The Atal Tunnel is the tunnel most candidates think of first, and it is close behind at 9.02 kilometres, but its record is a qualified one — it is the world's longest single-tube highway tunnel above 10,000 feet, not India's longest tunnel outright. The Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel, also in Jammu and Kashmir, is 8.45 kilometres, and the Kuthiran Tunnel in Kerala is well under a kilometre. The order of the four is therefore Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Atal, Banihal Qazigund, Kuthiran.

• (a)Atal Tunnel — The famous one, and 9.02 kilometres long — but a shade shorter than the 9.28-kilometre Chenani-Nashri tunnel. Its genuine record is for the longest single-tube highway tunnel above 10,000 feet.
• (b)Kuthiran Tunnel — Much the shortest of the four. The Kuthiran twin tunnels on the Thrissur-Palakkad stretch in Kerala run to under a kilometre.
• (d)Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel — At 8.45 kilometres it is the third of these four. It shortens the Jammu-Srinagar road further up the same highway and opened in 2021.

Long road tunnels in India are almost all Himalayan, and they are built for the same reason: a mountain pass closes in winter or costs hours in hairpins, and a tunnel through the ridge gives all-weather access. The Chenani-Nashri tunnel bypasses the Patnitop stretch of the Jammu-Srinagar highway; the Atal Tunnel pierces the Pir Panjal below the Rohtang Pass to give Lahaul and Spiti year-round connectivity; the Banihal Qazigund tunnel takes another bite out of the same Jammu-Srinagar route. Length records in this field move as new projects finish.

The trap here is fame rather than fact. The Atal Tunnel had an inauguration in October 2020 with heavy coverage and a genuine world record attached to it, so it is the answer that comes to mind — but the record is the carefully worded one for a single-tube highway tunnel above 10,000 feet, and on plain length the Chenani-Nashri tunnel beats it by about 260 metres. Keep the numbers rather than the headlines. One honest note on the present day: this remained India's longest road tunnel at the September 2023 exam and still stands as such, but the Zojila tunnel now under construction, at roughly 14 kilometres, will take the record when it opens.

• The Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel, also called the Chenani-Nashri Tunnel, is 9.28 kilometres long — India's longest road tunnel.
• It lies on National Highway 44 in Jammu and Kashmir and was inaugurated on 2 April 2017.
• The Atal Tunnel is 9.02 kilometres, opened on 3 October 2020, and holds the record for the world's longest single-tube highway tunnel above 10,000 feet.
• The Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel is 8.45 kilometres and opened in 2021; the Kuthiran Tunnel in Kerala is under a kilometre.
• The Zojila tunnel under construction, about 14 kilometres, is set to become India's longest road tunnel when complete.

• Answering 'Atal Tunnel' from memory of its world record; that record is for a single-tube highway tunnel above 10,000 feet, not for length in India.
• Confusing road tunnels with rail tunnels, where the long Himalayan railway tunnels post different numbers.
• Treating length records as permanent — Zojila will overtake the present holder.

As a superlative question about Indian infrastructure, or as a statements item on one named tunnel's length, location and builder.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel, India's longest road tunnel, lies on which national highway?

  • (a)NH 44
  • (b)NH 48
  • (c)NH 27
  • (d)NH 66

  Answer(a) NH 44 — the Jammu-Srinagar route, where the tunnel bypasses the Patnitop stretch between Chenani and Nashri.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Atal Tunnel gives year-round road access to which valley?

  • (a)Nubra
  • (b)Lahaul and Spiti
  • (c)Kullu
  • (d)Zanskar

  Answer(b) Lahaul and Spiti — the tunnel runs below the Rohtang Pass through the Pir Panjal range in Himachal Pradesh.