evidence: One of the tunnels now being constructed is between the towns of Chenani and Nashri, which at 9km long will be the longest road tunnel in the country, shattering the previous longest road tunnel record currently held by the 2.5km long Jawahar Tunnel, part of the current and often heavily delayed road connection between Srinagar and Jammu in Jammu and Kashmir state. [...] The spokesman points out, "Tunnelling in the Himalayas is difficult and the Chenani-Nashri tunnel is no exception. The mix of geological formations lead to a lot of distressing and cracking of the rock mass – it’s full of surprises. [...] The Chenani-Nashri tunnel contract was awarded on an EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) basis. Using a fleet of seven Atlas Copco drill rigs, the Chenani-Nashri tunnel is being excavated according to the NATM (New Austrian Tunnelling Method).The fleet includes four Boomer XE3 C rigs with ABC Total (fully automatic) and three Boomer E2 C rigs with ABC Regular (semi-automatic).