Work on the long-delayed strategic Atal Rohtang tunnel, which will connect Manali with Lahaul and the Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh throughout the year, has been completed and will be ready for opening in two weeks, officials told the both development.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to open the tunnel in September.
The strategic tunnel, which is nearing completion, is a step in the direction of providing all-weather connectivity to the remote border areas of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, which otherwise remained isolated from the rest of the country for about six months. during winters. The tunnel is also important from a military logistics point of view and will provide better connectivity for the armed forces to reach Ladakh.
READ ALSO | 8.8 km long, 3,000 meters above sea level: know everything about the Atal tunnel
Upon completion, it will become the longest road tunnel in the world at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters.
The Rohtang Tunnel is being built in the Pir Panjal mountain ranges of Himachal Pradesh, as the Manali-Sarchu-Leh highway is closed for almost six months a year due to the Rohtang Pass being completely covered in snow between November and April. Upon completion, the all-weather tunnel will connect Manali with Lahaul and the Spiti Valley throughout the year and reduce the length of the Manali-Rohtang Pass-Sarchu-Leh highway by 46 km.
The Rohtang Tunnel was renamed the Atal Tunnel by the Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December of last year. The decision to build a strategic tunnel under the Rohtang Pass was made by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000.
In 2002, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared the construction of the Rohtang Tunnel and laid the foundation for the tunnel access road. The Border Roads Organization (BRO) contracted RITES in March 2002 to conduct feasibility studies.
The 8.8 kilometer long tunnel is the longest tunnel in the world above 3,000 meters of altitude. It will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kilometers and reduce travel time by 4.5 hours.
It is a 10.5 meter wide single tube two lane tunnel with a fire proof emergency ‘escape tunnel’ integrated into the main tunnel.
On September 24, 2009, a contract was awarded to Strabag-Afcons Joint Venture (SAJV) for the construction of the tunnel. The construction of the project finally began in 2010, in the presence of the then president of the UPA, Sonia Gandhi.
However, the long-delayed tunnel has faced difficult construction challenges due to the geographic location and difficult topographical profile of the region. Delays due to harsh weather conditions also increased the cost of the project from Rs 1,458 crore to around Rs 2,500 crore.
“The Atal Rohtang Tunnel will be ready for inauguration in the next two weeks… It has been the most challenging project in terms of construction due to the geographical conditions, the weather and the multiple hazards faced during construction. We have faced multiple avalanches. In 2013, the tunnel collapsed at the north portal. In 2014, we had to evacuate the site in a hurry due to the sudden adverse weather conditions … Army helicopters have had to be used to rescue almost 100-150 workers. All credit goes to Strabag-Afcons and the Border Roads Organization for their strict safety regulations and a hawk-like vigil in the construction of the tunnel that was able to ensure that the tunnel was built without any fatalities in the project ”, Satish Paretkar, Director, Hydro and Underground Division, Afcons said.
Since there were multiple avalanche zones on both portals, the task force also received GPS trackers that could track their location and send a signal to the control room in the event someone got stuck or hit by an avalanche.
The Border Roads Organization (BRO) and contractors had to contend with significant geological, terrain and climatic challenges that included the most difficult stretch of the 587-meter Seri Nalah fault zone. The so-called advance of both extremes was achieved on October 15, 2017.
“The biggest challenge we faced was due to the Seri Nalla Zone, which took us almost four years to excavate 041 km of the zone. In the Seri Nalla Zone on the south portal, we are faced with the constant collapse of the tunnel facade. The area threw extremely fractured and pulverized rocks and very poor geological conditions. We experience a huge input of water of up to 127 liters per second. When you have so much water from an upper glacial lake, it is impossible to continue. We could not trace the source of the glacier, and if we had not found the solution, Rohtang would not have been possible, “he added.
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