Railway hastens tunnel, gauge conversion on rail line

The Indian Railways has speeded-up construction of the Kharwa Chanda tunnel and gauge conversion on the Udaipur-Ahmadabad rail route; the project will be completed in the next two years. Designed on the lines of Chirva tunnel, work on the 840-m long project is in full swing. The tunnel, which is approximately 1,380 feet above sea level, is adjacent to the old meter gauge line tunnel, which is 259 meter long and each end of the tunnel (portal) is 5 m x 5 m. The tunnel will be squeezed through a 125 ft high hill once and the base will be prepared for tunnel digging. The distance between Kharwa and Zawar Mines is 15-km and the tunnel is 142 km away from Det. A 4m x 4m refuge will be dug into the inner walls of the tunnel every 100 meters to ensure safety of the workers.