Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi inaugurated world’s highest Atal tunnel at Rohtang today.
Earlier, Modi had tweeted, “Fulfilling Atal Ji’s dream of top quality infrastructure. Will be in Himachal Pradesh tomorrow to dedicate the #AtalTunnel in Rohtang to the nation. This is an iconic infrastructure project built at a height of 10,000 feet.”
“The #AtalTunnel will solve a major problem of connectivity in the region. It has several salient features and will further ‘Ease of Living’ for local citizens. Will also join public programmes in Sissu in Lahaul Spiti and at Solang Valley,” he said in another tweet.
The South Portal (SP) of Atal Tunnel is located at a distance of 25 km from Manali at an altitude of 3,060 metres, while the North Portal (NP) of the tunnel is located near village Teling, Sissu, in Lahaul Valley at an altitude of 3,071 metres.
It is horseshoe-shaped, single tube double lane tunnel with a roadway of eight metres and has an overhead clearance of 5.525 metres.
Atal Tunnel has been designed for traffic density of 3,000 cars per day and 1,500 trucks per day with a max speed of 80 km/hr. It has the state of the art electromechanical system including semi-transverse ventilation system.
The decision to construct a strategic tunnel below the Rohtang Pass was taken on June 3, 2000, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the PM. The foundation stone for the access road to the south portal of the tunnel was laid on May 26, 2002.
The Union Cabinet decided to name the Rohtang Tunnel as Atal Tunnel in 2019 to honour the contribution made by the former PM.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Himachal Pradesh chief minister (CM) Jairam Thakur and Union Minister Anurag Thakur were also present on the occasion.
Read more about the tunnel here:https://hellotricity.in/worlds-longest-highway-tunnel-above-10000-feet-ready-after-10-years/
