Previously known as National
Highway 7, National Highway 44 (NH 44) is the longest-running National Highway
in India. It is 3,745 km long and covers the North-South Corridor of NHDP. It
starts from Srinagar in the north and ends in Kanyakumari in the south. NH-44
was laid and is maintained by Central Public Works Department(CPWD).
The NH-44 came into existance
after merging full or parts of seven previous differently numbered national
highways like NH 1A from Srinagar in Jammu & Kashmir, NH 1 starting from
Punjab and Haryana and ending at Delhi, part of NH 2 starting from Delhi and
ending at Agra, NH 3 (famously known as Agra-Bombay highway) from Agra to
Gwalior, former NH 75 and NH 26 to Jhansi, and finally NH 7 via Nagpur, and
Adilabad, Nirmal, Kamareddy, Hyderabad, Kurnool and Mahbubnagar, Anantapur, and
Bangalore, Dharmapuri, Salem, Karur, Madurai, Kovilpatti and Tirunelveli
terminating at Kanyakumari.
States connected by NH 44
This highway passes through the
11 Indian states of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil
Nadu.
Cities connected by NH 44
The highway connects several
important Indian cities from Srinagar to Kanyakumari such as Srinagar, Jammu,
Pathankot, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Ambala, Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat, Delhi, Mathura,
Agra, Gwalior, Jhansi, Narsinghpur, Nagpur, Adilabad, Hyderabad, Jadcherla,
Kurnool, Anantapur, Bengaluru, Dharmapuri, Salem, Namakkal, Karur, Dindigul,
Madurai, Kovilpatti, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari.
Chenani-Nashri Tunnel which was
inaugurated by Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, on 2 April 2017, is a
significant addition to this highway.
