Prime Minister to open Atal tunnel in Manali on October 3

Our Correspondent

KULLU, SEPTEMBER 20

The Atal Tunnel at Rohtang will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 3, said Minister of Technical Education Ram Lal Markanda.

Addressing mediapersons in Manali today, Markanda said that the Prime Minister would address the public after the inauguration of the tunnel in Sissu or Keylong in Lahaul. A meeting with the Lahaul & Spiti administration will also be held.

Also read: Lahaul fears turning into Manali with Rohtang tunnel

He said that the Prime Minister would give green signal to a bus passing through the Atal Tunnel. The government would honour the elderly of Lahaul by making them the first passengers to cross this tunnel by bus.

Markanda said that the tunnel had fulfilled the dreams of Lahaul residents who were eagerly waiting for its inauguration. He said that it was a dream project of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Congress was making undue claims to take credit for this tunnel.

He said that the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had laid the foundation stone of the road for the south portal of the tunnel in 2002 but the Congress government took eight years to start the construction work on the tunnel.

He said that this tunnel had brought hopes for the people of Lahaul who remain cut off from the rest of the state for around sixmonths in winters due to closure of 13,058-foot-high Rohtang Pass, the gateway to the Lahaul valley, in the wake of heavy snowfall. He said that the tunnel would open new business avenues for the residents and boost the economy of the region.

The minister said he was going on a tour to the Lahaul valley. He would have a meeting with BRO officials and hold detailed discussions about the inauguration. The people of Lahaul and Spiti want that this moment be celebrated as a festival.

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