Portals of tunnel connected on Manali NH

Dipender Manta

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Mandi, May 14

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has connected both portals of the 1,300-m-long Nerchowk-Mandi-Pandoh bypass tunnel from Chadyana village to Malori by completing its digging work on the Kiratpur-Manali highway on Friday.

Will Ease congestion in Mandi

• Bypassing Mandi, the 1,300 m tunnel will divert the traffic to Manali from the Nerchowk side
• The construction work on the tunnel was started in March 2020
• The construction of another 600-m tunnel is underway in the area

Seeping water to be tapped

The tunnel will reduce traffic to Mandi town considerably. We have decided to tap the seeping water of the tunnel for drinking purpose and it has been done for the first time in the state. —Varun Chari, Project Director, NHAI

This tunnel will divert the traffic to Manali from the Nerchowk side, just 4 km before bypassing the Mandi town. The NHAI authorities said the construction work on the tunnel was started in March 2020.

The breakthrough was made in the presence of NHAI regional officer Abdul Vashid and project director Varun Chari .

The officials congratulated the workers and engineers on completing the work in the stipulated time. The construction of another 600-m tunnel is underway in the area.

Varun Chari said, “The tunnel will reduce the traffic rush to Mandi town considerably in the coming days. We have decided to tap the seeping water of tunnel for drinking purpose and it has been done for the first time in the state.”

He said the construction work on the Kiratpur-Nerchowk-Manali fourlane is going on at a fast pace as the target of the completion set up by the government was December.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had tweeted in March that the ongoing work on the 48-km Kiratpur-Nerchowk four-lane project, connecting Manali through five tunnels and 22 bridges over the Sutlej, was scheduled to be completed by December.

“This project will reduce the journey time between Kiratpur and Kullu by up to four hours. This will boost tourism and bring prosperity to people. Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, the construction of roads is the top priority of our government,” he wrote.

This road project, awarded to the NHAI in 2012, could not be completed due to the slow pace of construction work.