The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has operationalised a new strategically important 2,79–km long tunnel at Jattvibegal in the Jammu region, which would provide faster and easier access to Poonch.The tunnel, bored through the Kalidhar Range, will bypass a difficult, landslide-prone stretch of the existing Jammu-Poonch highway and will reduce the travel distance by around 12 kilometre and cut travel time by about 45 minutes, BRO officials said.“Initially opened for light motor vehicles during daylight hours, the tunnel will progressively facilitate movement of all vehicles and round-the-clock traffic as operations are expanded,” the BRO said on Jattvibeday.The tunnel, at present will be open from 8 AM to 8 PM. After carrying out analysis of the traffic movement and assessing all safety aspects, the tunnel will be opened progressively for heavy vehicles and round the clock movement, a BRO official said.The main civil works were completed about a month ago and thereafter BRO reviewed all functional and safety mechanisms inside the tunnel, including the ventilation system, fire-fighting mechanism, emergency lighting and ingress tunnel.Last week, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, had inspected the tunnel, which, besides its importance for military logistics in the vicinity of the Line of Control, will also benefit the civilian populace of Poonch, Rajouri and Nowshera areas by boosting socio-economic activity.Constructed at a cost of approximately Rs 600 crore, the works were executed by BRO’s Project Sampark. Work on the two-laned tunnel had commenced in September 2021 and the breakthrough was achieved in May 2024.It is the longest of four tunnels on this route. The others are the 260-meter Kandi Tunnel which is already operational, the 700-metre Nowshera Tunnel and the 1.1 km Bhimber Gali Tunnel, both of which are under construction.