The foundation stone for
the strategic 8.8 km long Rohtang Tunnel, to be built at an altitude of over
3,000 mts in the Pir Panjal range, enabling an all-weather road link across the
snow-capped Rohtang Pass (3,978 mts), was laid by the Chairperson of National
Advisory Council, Smt Sonia Gandhi, in Manali today. The tunnel will provide
unhindered road access to the remote regions of Lahaul-Spiti and Pangi Valley
throughout the year, besides reducing the road distance by nearly 48 Kms, a
travel time of about four hours.
A brief multi-faith
ceremony was held at the South Portal, 15 Kms from Manali, where the drilling
work on the tunnel commenced today. Smt
Gandhi was accompanied by Union Defence Minister, Shri AK Antony, Union Steel
Minister, Shri Vir Bhadra Singh, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Shri Prem
Kumar Dhumal, MoS for Defence, Dr MM Pallam Raju, Defence Secretary, Pradeep
Kumar, DG Border Roads Organisation (BRO), Lt Gen MC Badhani and other
officials from the State and Ministry of Defence.
Addressing a public rally
near Manali, Smt Gandhi reminisced that the project was the dream of former
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and expressed satisfaction that it was finally on
its way to being realised. The tunnel at an outlay of 1,495 Cr is expected to
be completed by BRO in Feb 2015. The horse-shoe shaped tunnel will be a two-way
lane in a single tube, 11.25 mts wide. The tunnel will give a boost to tourism
in the region, facilitate better access for medical treatment and provide more
avenues of employment to the youth, she said.
Simultaneously, drilling
work also commenced at the northern portal (exit point), joining the
Manali-Sarchu road, over Chandra river. One of the unique features of the
tunnel being constructed at the rarefied altitudes includes incorporation of
semi-transverse ventilation system, where large fans would separately circulate
air, in and out throughout the tunnel length and thus reduce vehicular fumes.
In his brief introductory remarks , DG BRO, Lt
Gen Badhani spoke about the challenges that the workforce will endure. Terming
it as an extremely prestigious project, coming in its Golden Jubilee year, he
assured that BRO will leave no stone unturned for timely completion of the
project. The tunnel will not only serve the purpose of the people in the region
but will also prove vital for troops of the Armed Forces serving in the
Leh-Ladakh region, all-year round.
The tunnel is being
constructed under the aegis of BRO by M/S STRABAG-AFCONS, a joint venture
between India’s Afcons Infrastructure Ltd and Strabag SE of Austria, world’s
fourth largest construction company. The work is expected to take 63 months for
completion.
The Rohtang tunnel alone
may not be enough to make the Manali-Keylong-Leh highway an all-weather road
due to two other major snow-bound passes on way – Baralacha La and Thaglang La.
To overcome this, the project also envisages construction of 292 Kms long
all-weather road, Nimu-Padam-Darcha via Shinkunla Pass, traversing the remote
Zanskar region of J&K, at an additional estimated cost of Rs 286 Cr.
Project Rohtang is the 18th
project of the BRO countrywide. BRO is a premiere infrastructure creation and
consolidation organisation under MoD and has constructed more than 48,300 Kms
of road, 400 major bridges measuring a total of 36 Kms including 19 airfields
mostly across difficult terrain and inhospitable climates.
Sitanshu Kar/ TK Singha in
Solang Valley, Manali