Misplaced Pages

#769230

38-634: The Banihal-Qazigund Railway Tunnel or Pir Panjal railway tunnel is an 11.215 kilometres (6.969 mi) long railway tunnel located in Pir Panjal Range of middle Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir , India , south of Qazigund town. It is a part of the Jammu–Baramulla line . The north portal of the railway tunnel is at 33°33′42″N 75°11′56″E  /  33.5617942°N 75.1988626°E  / 33.5617942; 75.1988626 and its south portal

76-638: A 4,414 metres (14,482 ft) mountain pass in the Chamba district connecting Chamba with the Pangi valley of Himachal Pradesh , India. Rohtang La (altitude 3,978 m (13,051 ft)) is a mountain pass on the eastern Pir Panjal range connecting Manali in the Kullu Valley to Keylong in the Lahaul Valley. The Jawahar Tunnel is a 2.5 km (1.6 mi) long tunnel through Pir Panjal mountain under

114-858: A gradual elevation towards the Dhauladhar and Pir Panjal ranges. Pir Panjal is the largest and westernmost range of the Lesser Himalayas. Near the bank of the Sutlej River , it dissociates itself from the main Himalayan range and forms a divide between the Beas and Ravi rivers on one side and the Chenab on the other. Further west, the Pir Panjal range forms the southwestern boundary of the Kashmir Valley , separating it from

152-486: A height of 7.39 metres (24.2 ft). There is a three-metre-wide (9.8 ft) road along the length of the tunnel for the maintenance of railway tracks and emergency relief. It takes approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds for the train to pass through the tunnel. For a short time, Banihal-Qazigund Railway Tunnel was India's longest railway tunnel. Once completed, the 11.55 km long rail tunnel between Senapati and Imphal West districts on Jiribam–Imphal line will surpass

190-561: A length of 309 km (192 mi). The drop in height is 3,256 m (10,682 ft). Historically, the river was the centre of the Zhangzhung Kingdom until its fall in the 8th century AD. Sutlej is an antecedent river , which existed before the Himalayas and entrenched itself while they were rising. The Sutlej, along with all of the Punjab rivers, is thought to have drained east into

228-423: A new wider and longer tunnel has been planned at a lower elevation. Construction of a new 8.45 km (5.25 mi) long twin-tube Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel started in 2011 and was commissioned in 2021. The new tunnel is at a lower elevation than the existing Jawahar tunnel and has reduced the road distance between Banihal and Qazigund by 16 km (9.9 mi). It is also less prone to snow avalanches as it

266-613: A proposal to build a 214-kilometre (133 mi) long heavy freight and irrigation canal, to be known as the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) to connect the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers. The project is intended to connect the Ganges, which flows to the east coast of the subcontinent, with points west, via Pakistan. When completed, the SYL would enable inland shipping from India's east coast to its west coast (on

304-635: Is Shopian . The Munawar Pass (altitude 3,600 m (11,800 ft)) is a pass north of Peer Ki Gali, overlooking Rajouri. The Banihal pass (2,832 m (9,291 ft)) lies at the head of the Jhelum River at the southern end of the Kashmir Valley. Banihal and Qazigund lie on either side of the pass. The Sinthan pass connects the Kashmir valley with Kishtwar in the Jammu region. The Saach Pass ,

342-624: Is a range of mountains in the Lower Himalayan region located in the Western Himalayas of northern Indian subcontinent . It runs southeast to northwest between the Beas and Neelam/Kishanganga rivers, in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir , with its northwestern end extending into territory administered by Pakistan. The Himalayas show

380-601: Is a river in Ngari , Tibet , China . The name Langqên , Tibetan for "elephant", is because of a valley that resembles an elephant trunk. This river is the main source of the Sutlej, a tributary of Indus River . It enters India at Shipki La pass. The source is south of Gangdise Range , in Ngari Prefecture. Its course is mainly in the Zanda County . The river drains an area of 22,760 km (8,790 sq mi), and covers

418-704: Is also known as Satadru . It is the easternmost tributary of the Indus River . The Bhakra Dam is built around the river Sutlej to provide irrigation and other facilities to the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana . The waters of the Sutlej are allocated to India under the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan, and are mostly diverted to irrigation canals in India like the Sirhind Canal , Bhakra Main Line and

SECTION 10

#1733107084770

456-459: Is at 33°27′48″N 75°11′38″E  /  33.463203°N 75.193992°E  / 33.463203; 75.193992 . The average elevation of the railway tunnel is 1,760 m (5,770 ft) or about 440 m (1,440 ft) below the existing road tunnel, the Jawahar Tunnel , which is at elevation of about 2,194 m (7,198 ft). The tunnel is 8.40 metres (27.6 ft) wide with

494-529: Is at a lower elevation. The Atal Tunnel has been built under the Rohtang Pass in the eastern Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali Highway . With 8.8 km (5.5 mi) length, the tunnel is the second longest road tunnel in India and has reduced the distance between Manali and Keylong by about 60 km (37 mi). The tunnel is at 3,100 metres (10,171 ft) elevation whereas

532-538: Is now 137 kilometres (85 mi). Until the 148 kilometres (92 mi) Katra -Banihal section of Jammu–Baramulla line gets constructed, people can travel from Jammu Tawi or Udhampur to Banihal by road and take the train from Banihal to Srinagar through the Banihal railway tunnel. Pir Panjal Range The Pir Panjal Range ( Urdu pronunciation: [piːɾ pənd͡ʒːɑːl]  ; Kashmiri pronunciation: [piːr pãːt͡saːl] pronunciation )

570-646: The Ganges prior to 5 mya . There is substantial geologic evidence to indicate that prior to 1700 BC, and perhaps much earlier, the Sutlej was an important tributary of the Ghaggar-Hakra River (thought to be the legendary Sarasvati River ) rather than the Indus, with various authors putting the redirection from 2500 to 2000 BC, from 5000 to 3000 BC, or before 8000 BC. Geologists believe that tectonic activity created elevation changes which redirected

608-570: The Garuda Valley by the Zhangzhung , the ancient civilization of western Tibet . The Garuda Valley was the centre of their empire, which stretched many miles into the nearby Himalayas . The Zhangzhung built a towering palace in the Upper Sutlej Valley called Kyunglung , the ruins of which still exist today near the village of Moincêr , southwest of Mount Kailash (Mount Ti-se). Eventually,

646-523: The Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel as India's longest tunnel. The new Banihal - Qazigund tunnel for the Jammu–Baramulla line connecting Bichleri Valley of Banihal with Qazigund area of Kashmir Valley has been constructed as a part of its Udhampur - Srinagar - Baramulla rail link project. The boring was completed in four years in October 2011, its lining and laying of rail tracks was completed in

684-501: The Rajasthan canal . The mean annual flow is 14 million acre feet (MAF) (roughly 1.727 × 10  L) upstream of Ropar barrage , downstream of the Bhakra dam. It has several major hydroelectric points, including the 1,325  MW Bhakra Dam , the 1,000 MW Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Plant , and the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Dam . The drainage basin in India includes

722-568: The Supreme Court of India . To augment nearly 100 tmcft (some 2.832 × 10  L) water availability for the needs of this link canal, Tso Moriri lake/Lingdi Nadi (a tributary of Tso Moriri lake) waters can be diverted to the Sutlej basin by digging a 10 km=long gravity canal to connect to the Ungti Chu river. The Upper Sutlej Valley, called Langqên Zangbo in Tibet , was once known as

760-494: The Arabian sea) without having to round the southern tip of India by sea, vastly shortening shipping distances, alleviating pressures on seaports, avoiding sea hazards, creating business opportunities along the route, raising real estate values, raising tax revenue, and establishing important commercial links and providing jobs for north-central India's large population. However, the proposal has met with obstacles and has been referred to

798-569: The Arabian sea. In approx. 1797 BC, the course of the Sutlej river moved towards the north to join the Beas river . About 17 kilometres (11 mi) north of Uch Sharif , the Sutlej unites with the Chenab River , forming the Panjnad River , which finally flows into the Indus river about 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of the city of Bahawalpur . The area to the southeast on the Pakistani side of

SECTION 20

#1733107084770

836-481: The Banihal pass connects Banihal with Qazigund on the other side of the mountain. The Jawahar Tunnel was named after the first Prime Minister of India was constructed in the early 1950s and commissioned in December 1956 to ensure snow-free passage throughout the year. It is at elevation of about 2,100 m (6,900 ft). It was designed for 150 vehicles per day but now used by more than 7,000 vehicles per day. Therefore,

874-568: The Indian border is called the Cholistan Desert and, on the Indian side, the Thar Desert . The Indus then flows through a gorge near Sukkur and the fertile plains region of Sindh , forming a large delta region between the border of Gujarat , India and Pakistan, finally terminating in the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi , Pakistan. During floods, Indus river water flows into

912-687: The Indian part of the Great Rann of Kutch . Thus Gujarat state of India is also a riparian state of the Indus river as the Rann of Kutch area lying west of Kori Creek in the state is part of the Indus River Delta . In the Chaitra-Ratha Parva of Adi Parva of Mahābhārata , when sage Vasishtha wanted to commit suicide he saw the river named Haimāvata (whose source is Himavat), flooded and full of crocodiles and other aquatic monsters. So he jumped into

950-534: The Indus thousands of years earlier. There is some evidence that the high rate of erosion caused by the modern Sutlej River has influenced the local faulting and rapidly exhumed rocks above Rampur . This would be similar to, but on a much smaller scale than, the exhumation of rocks by the Indus River in Nanga Parbat , Pakistan. The Sutlej River also exposes a double inverted metamorphic gradient . There has been

988-557: The Mahabharata regions in western Punjab and southern Kashmir. Scholar Dineshchandra Sircar has analysed the geography described in the Shakti ‐sangama Tantra , where this is indeed the case. Scholar M. A. Stein believes that the concept of deity must have been translated into that of a Pir after the region was Islamised. Deo Tibba (6,001 m (19,688 ft)) and Indrasan (6,221 m (20,410 ft)) are two important peaks at

1026-611: The Rohtang pass is at 3,978 metres (13,051 ft) elevation. Lying on the Manali-Leh axis, this is one of the two routes to Ladakh. The Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel , an 11.215 kilometres (6.969 mi) railway tunnel, passes through the Pir Panjal Range in Jammu and Kashmir. It connects Quazigund and Banihal and is a part of the Udhampur -Srinagar- Baramulla railway project. The tunnel

1064-754: The Tibetan name Langqên Zangbo ( Elephant River or Elephant Spring ) to the Shipki La pass, entering India in Himachal Pradesh state. It then has its main knee heading west-southwest for about 360 kilometres (220 mi) to meet the Beas River near Harike , Tarn Taran district , Punjab state. Ropar Wetland in Punjab state is located on the Sutlej river basin. Evidence suggests Indus Valley civilisation also flourished here. Ungti Chu and Pare Chu rivers which drain

1102-630: The Zhangzhung were conquered by the Tibetan Empire . The Sutlej River also formed the eastern boundary of the Sikh Empire under Maharajah Ranjit Singh . Parganah Hakkarah Today, the Sutlej Valley is inhabited by nomadic descendants of the Zhangzhung, who live in tiny villages of yak herders. The Sutlej was the main medium of transportation for the kings of that time. In the early 18th century, it

1140-710: The eastern end of the mountain range. They can be approached from both the Parvati -Beas Valley (Kulu District), Upper Belt of Chamba Himachal Pradesh and the Chandra (Upper Chenab) Valley ( Lahaul and Spiti District) in Himachal Pradesh. The hill station of Gulmarg in Kashmir lies in this range. Haji Pir Pass (altitude 2,637 m (8,652 ft)) on the western Pir Panjal range on the road between Poonch and Uri in Indian-administered Kashmir . Despite taking

1178-524: The flow of Sutlej from the southeast to the southwest. If the diversion of the river occurred recently (about 4000 years ago), it may have been responsible for the Ghaggar-Hakra (Saraswati) drying up, causing desertification of Cholistan and the eastern part of the modern state of Sindh , and the abandonment of Harappan settlements along the Ghaggar. However, the Sutlej may have already been captured by

Banihal-Qazigund Railway Tunnel - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-561: The hills of Jammu region, forming a divide between the Jhelum and Chenab rivers. The Pir Panjal range is named after the Pir Panjal Pass , whose original name as recorded by Srivara , is Panchaladeva ( IAST : Pāñcāladeva , meaning the deity of Panchala ). Panchala is a country mentioned in the Mahabharata in the northwest Uttar Pradesh . However, there are also traditions that place

1254-488: The next one year and trial run commenced on 28 December 2012. The tunnel was commissioned on 26 June 2013 and commercial runs started from 27 June 2013. The rail tunnel reduces the distance between Quazigund and Banihal by 17 kilometres (11 mi) (from 35 kilometres (22 mi) by road to 17.5 kilometres (10.9 mi) by train). Banihal railway station is situated at 1,702 m (5,584 ft) above mean sea level. The railway network in Kashmir from Banihal to Baramulla

1292-467: The pass twice in military operations (in 1948 and 1965 ), India left the pass under Pakistani control. The Pir Panjal Pass (also called Peer Ki Gali ) connects the Kashmir valley with Rajouri and Poonch via the Mughal Road. It is the highest point of the Mughal Road at 3,490 m (11,450 ft) and lies to the southwest of the Kashmir Valley. The nearest town to the pass in the Kashmir valley

1330-423: The river. The river thinking that Vasishtha was a mass of unquenchable fire dilated itself and flew in a hundred different directions. Henceforth the river was named śatadra (or śatadru) which means the river of a hundred courses. So, Vasishtha landed on dry land and was unharmed. Langqên Zangbo ( Tibetan : གླང་ཆེན་གཙང་པོ , Wylie : glang chen gtsang po ; Chinese : 朗钦藏布 ; pinyin : Lǎngqīn Zàngbù )

1368-451: The southeastern part of Ladakh are tributaries of Sutlej river. Continuing west-southwest, the Sutlej enters Pakistan about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Bhedian Kalan , Kasur District , Punjab province, continuing southwest to water the ancient and historical former Bahawalpur princely state . Few centuries ago, Sutlej river was merging with the Ghaggar river to discharge in to

1406-428: The states and union territories of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Ladakh and Haryana. The source of the Sutlej is west of the catchment area of Lake Rakshastal in Tibet , as springs in an ephemeral stream. Lake Rakshastal used to be part of the Sutlej river basin long ago and separated from the Sutlej due to tectonic activity. The nascent river flows at first west-northwest for about 260 kilometres (160 mi) under

1444-432: Was commissioned on 26 June 2013 for regular service. It is India's longest railway tunnel. 33°53′36″N 74°29′19″E  /  33.89333°N 74.48861°E  / 33.89333; 74.48861 Sutlej River The Sutlej River ( / ˈ s ʌ t l ə dʒ / ) is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan . The Sutlej River

#769230