Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that the Atal Tunnel not only made the dream of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream come true, but also ended the decades-long wait for the people of Himachal Pradesh. The prime minister made the comments after inaugurating the 9.02 km long Atal tunnel, which will connect Manali with the state’s Lahaul-Spiti valley.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Defense Chief of Staff Bipin Rawat, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur, and the Director General of the Border Highway Organization, Lt. Gen. Harpal Singh, at the inauguration ceremony. .
The tunnel, which the prime minister says will also become Leh-Ladakh’s lifeline, will remain open year-round rather than the valley being isolated for about six months each year amid heavy snowfall.
The tunnel will also strengthen the country’s border infrastructure, Modi stressed.
The Atal Tunnel, named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee, reduces the road distance by 46 km between Manali and Leh and the travel time by approximately four to five hours. The tunnel has been built to ultra-modern specifications in the Pir Panjal Mountain Range of the Himalayas at an altitude of 3,000 meters above mean sea level.
The double-lane single-tube tunnel with a carriageway of 8 meters and a clearance height of 5,525 meters is shaped like a horseshoe and has been designed for a traffic density of 3,000 cars per day and 1,500 trucks per day with a maximum speed of 80 km / hr, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Jairam Thakur said on Friday that about 200 people were expected to attend the event in Manali. The PMO said Modi will participate in public functions at Sissu in Lahaul Spiti and in Solang Valley after attending the opening function in South Portal, Manali.
Rajnath Singh had inspected the Atal tunnel on Friday together with Prime Minister Thakur and Thakur.
.
