Gadkari to visit Rohtang tunnel on July 27

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 19

Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will visit the Rohtang tunnel on July 27 to review the progress as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to inaugurate the project, providing a strategic link for armed forces, before the Lok Sabha poll next year.

“The PM is very keen to see the completion of the tunnel at the earliest and it is in this connection that the minister will visit the tunnel site on July 27,” said Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. All aspects of the project would be examined and the necessary steps would be taken to expedite the project.

A sum of Rs 4,035 crore has been sanctioned for the 8.8-km tunnel, with almost half the amount having been spent. The cost shot up by three times from Rs 1,600 crore in 2008 to Rs 4,833 crore now. Though the project authorities had kept 2019 as the completion target, efforts are on to complete it as early as possible.

The south portal of the tunnel is at Dhundi, 10,180ft, while the north portal is close to Teling village of Lahaul at 10,226ft. The tunnel will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 km, besides providing round the year connectivity.

Thakur said efforts would be made to get the work completed by February-March 2019, before the polls. “Though the tunnel is trough from one end to the other, we are keen that it is declared open,” he said.

It was on October 12, 2017, that the boring work on the tunnel was completed by connecting the south portal in Kullu to the north portal in Lahaul. However, the tunnel has still not been thrown open for use as formalities like undertaking safety audit, structural stability, alignment and installation of the support system is being done.

The work on the project, which will provide all-round connectivity to Lahaul Spiti which otherwise loses contact with the rest of the world for more than six months, was started on June 28, 2010.

The horse-shoe shaped tunnel will have an inbuilt fire safety system, telephone booths at every 150 m distance and an entrance to emergency escape point at every 500 mts.

The tunnel faced many hurdles like water ingress and loose rock material that had slowed down the digging work. The project managed to negotiate the Seri Nala Fault Zone in January 2016, which was like overcoming a major obstacle.

To cut Leh distance by 46 km

• The project cost in 2008 was Rs 1,600 crore
• Enhanced project cost is Rs 4,833 crore
• Length of the tunnel is 8.8 km
• The south portal of the tunnel is at Dhundi while the north portal is close to Teling village of Lahaul
• It will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 km
• To provide all-round connectivity to Lahaul-Spiti