Stalemate ends, Rohtang tunnel work set to resume

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Manali, April 6

Following the assurance of Mandi MP Ramswaroop Sharma, the 11-day stalemate between Rohtang tunnel workers and company officials ended on Friday.

As many as 700 construction workers had stalled work, accusing the company of violationg the labour rights. They alleged that they were being forced to work overtime, that too on a fixed amount. Hygiene eluded the place where they lived, they lamented.

Since the first day of the strike, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the nodal agency of the Rohtang tunnel project, and construction company AFCONS officials have been pacifying the protesting workers, but the latter did not relent.

The work was awarded to AFCONS Infrastructure Limited in September 2009. The BRO is the overall in-charge of the project. President of the construction workers’ union Dharmendar said following the intervention of MP Ramswaroop Sharma and the BRO, the protest had been called off. He said: “They have assured us to consider our demands and we will resume work on Saturday.”

NM Chander Rana, Chief Engineer, Rohtang tunnel, said: “We hope the workers will be back on Saturday and the work will pick up.” The MP visited Manali to resolve the issue. “I have spoken to the Ministry of Defence and the BRO in Chandigarh to solve the problem of the workers, who have been protesting against the indifferent attitude of the company officials,” he said.

Sharma said he would urge the Ministry of Defence to initiate inquiry in to the matter, adding that for such trivial issues, the construction work was halted for 11 days and the authorities could not pacify the workers. This project was conceived in 1983, while the drilling of the tunnel began in June 2010. The BRO is keen on completing the project in 2019, which will provide an all-weather connectivity to residents of Lahaul-Spiti.