India opens world's longest highway tunnel at Rohtang
NEW DELHI, October 3, 2020
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the world's longest highway tunnel, Atal Rohtang Tunnel in Himachal Pradesh, that connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley.
The strategically important all-weather tunnel, which will be available to the commuters throughout the year, has been built in the Pir Panjal range of Himalayas. The tunnel is located at an altitude of 10,000 Feet from the Mean Sea Level (MSL).
It will reduce the road distance between Manali and Leh in Ladakh by 46 km and travelling time by four to five hours.
The 9.02 kilometres long engineering marvel connects Manali in Himachal Pradesh to Lahaul-Spiti throughout the year. Currently, the area remains cut off for about 6 months each year owing to heavy snowfall and inclement weather.
The Atal tunnel has huge strategic significance as it will greatly assist in the movement of armed forces, reported PTI.
The decision to construct a strategic tunnel below the Rohtang Pass was taken on June 3, 2000 during the tenure of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The foundation stone for the access road to the south portal of the tunnel was laid on May 26, 2002.
The Atal Tunnel is a horse-shoe shaped single tube double lane 9.02-km-long tunnel that goes under the Rohtang Pass in the eastern Pir Panjal range on the Leh-Manali highway.
The tunnel has been designed for traffic density of up to 3,000 cars and 1,500 trucks per day with a max pace of 80 km per hour.
The Atal Rohtang Tunnel took 14,508 MT of steel; 2,37,596 MT of cement and the new Austrian tunnelling technique for construction.
Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) said it has contributed to the mega project by supplying more than 9,000 tonnes of steel.
Two-thirds of the total 15,000 tonnes of steel used in the project has been supplied by SAIL, it said.
Out of the 9,000 tonnes, 6,500 tonnes was TMT, 1,500 tonnes structurals and 1,000 tonnes plates for fabricating beams, besides a small quantity of GP/GC sheets for constructing stations and control rooms.
The engineering marvel has many safety features built into it including:
*Entry barriers at both portals.
*Auto incident detection system with CCTV cameras installed at every 250 m, emergency exits every 500 m and a turning cavity every 2.2 km.
*Telephone connections at every 150 m for emergency communication
*Fire hydrant mechanisms at every 60 m and evacuation lighting/exit signs at every 25 m.
During the opening ceremony, PM Modi was accompanied by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, and Army Chief General MM Naravane. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and Union minister Anurag Thakur were also present on the occasion.
Launching a blistering attack on the Congress, a party which had ruled the country for over 60 years, Modi said India's defence interests were compromised under its rule.
The PM asserted that nothing was more important to his government than protecting the country.
He hit out at the opposition party, which headed the coalition government at the Centre during 2004-14.
Citing a number of strategically important projects, from Atal Tunnel to the air strip at Daulat Beg Oldi in Ladakh and Tejas fighter aircraft production, Modi asserted that they were delayed or almost forgotten and questioned as to what "compulsion" and "pressure" might have been behind it, without directly naming the Congress.
His government, the prime minister said, has deployed all its strength to develop border infrastructure, adding that never before has work been done at such a big scale, be it building roads, bridges or tunnels.
For long, he said, border projects could never come out of planning stage and those which did got stuck or were kept on the back burner.
"Work on only 1,300 meters was completed by 2013-14 and at that pace the project would have been completed only by 2040," quipped Modi.
The project really took off only after my government took charge in 2014 and speeded it up at an unprecedented rate," he stated.
"Our govt increased the pace of construction from 300 meters/year to 1400 meters/year and completed the project in 2020," he added.
Defence Minister said the tunnel was a strategic project as it will make soldiers' deployment and movement of weapons and ration easier. It will also be a big help to people and tourism sector, he added.
