Atal Tunnel: a blessing for development of Himachal Pradesh!
23 Feb 2022 14:44:31
No one can deny the fact that India is wondrous a nation, and has achieved feat that no other nation has come close to doing. It is one of the leading nation-builders & has been looked upon by the most developed of nations, as stated by the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres. An addition to the feat, one of India’s greatest engineering wonders - the Atal Tunnel, has been attributed to welcome a new era of growth and major socio-economic development in the district of Lahaul-Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.
Included in the reasons for the tourism boost is the ease of Covid-19 curbs, the regal snowfall at major tourist spots here, the reopening of hotels / restaurants, and the biggest one is actually the connectivity ease that actually given by the opening of the Atal Tunnel. The Atal tunnel was thrown open to the public in October of 2020. A maximum of 9,25,216 tourists were registered in July last year, and the lowest accounting to 51,243 in the month of May.
The Atal Tunnel is 9.02 km long, having strategical importance. The tunnel runs under the Rohtang Pass, which is 13,500 feet above sea level, which was built under the vastly challenging conditions of freezing cold in the mountainous and difficult terrain.
Something that is particularly worth noting here is that before the construction of this tunnel, the major road connecting Lahaul and Spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh from the rest of the country, used to remain closed due to the winter season which lasts around 6 months. With the construction of the Atal Tunnel, the distance on Manali-Sarchu road has been reduced by 46 kms and the travel time by 4-5 hours, providing all-weather connectivity on the Manali-Leh route.
The tunnel is named after the former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and has a gamut of safety features. These include SCADA controlled fire-fighting, state-of-the-art electromechanical systems like the semi transverse ventilation, illumination and monitoring systems.
Adding to its lauds, the Atal Tunnel has been certified as the ‘World’s Longest Highway tunnel’ above 10,000 Feet by World Book of Records.
Having fragile geology and issues like seepage of Seri Nala, causing the flood-like situation in the Atal Tunnel, accompanied with high overburden & excessive snowfall were some of the facets of construction challenges successfully surmounted by the BRO’s ‘Karmyogis’.
BRO’s important roads and bridges: In order to improve the border road connectivity in India, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last year, dedicated 24 bridges and 3 roads, built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in four states and two Union Territories across India. Moreover, he had also inaugurated Chisumle-Demchok road at Umling La Pass at over 19,000 feet in Ladakh which also holds the Guinness World Record of world’s highest motorable road!
The Atal Tunnel will open several new avenues for the development of tourism in the Rohtang region. Since the inauguration of the Atal tunnel back in 2019, the tourist activities, especially in the Lahaul-Spiti district, has seen an exponential surge of 622%, which makes it evident that a new era of growth and socio-economic development is now underway here.
Even though the Corona virus pandemic induced lockdown saw a steep fall in the tourism industry of Himachal Pradesh, this state is now on a path of steady recovery with the tourist influx registering an increase of around 75% last year, in comparison to the preceding year. This is all thanks to the Atal tunnel.
Included in the reasons for the tourism boost is the ease of Covid-19 curbs, the regal snowfall at major tourist spots here, the reopening of hotels / restaurants, and the biggest one is actually the connectivity ease that actually given by the opening of the Atal Tunnel. The Atal tunnel was thrown open to the public in October of 2020. A maximum of 9,25,216 tourists were registered in July last year, and the lowest accounting to 51,243 in the month of May.
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PM Modi dedicated this tunnel to the nation on October 3, 2020. Atal Tunnel, constructed on the Manali-Leh highway, reduces the road distance between Manali and Leh by 46 km and travel time by 5 hours. This tunnel has been built at an altitude of 3,000 metres or 10,000 feet from the mean sea level. More than 17 lakh tourists have been to Lahaul valley via the Atal tunnel since October 3, 2020.
The Atal Tunnel is 9.02 km long, having strategical importance. The tunnel runs under the Rohtang Pass, which is 13,500 feet above sea level, which was built under the vastly challenging conditions of freezing cold in the mountainous and difficult terrain.
It is a horseshoe shaped, single-tube double lane tunnel with roadway of 8 metres and an overhead clearance of 5.525 metres. It’s designed for a traffic density of 3,000 cars per day and 1,500 trucks per day with a maximum speed of 80 kmph and also has telephone connectivity at every 150 metres, in the event of an emergency.
Something that is particularly worth noting here is that before the construction of this tunnel, the major road connecting Lahaul and Spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh from the rest of the country, used to remain closed due to the winter season which lasts around 6 months. With the construction of the Atal Tunnel, the distance on Manali-Sarchu road has been reduced by 46 kms and the travel time by 4-5 hours, providing all-weather connectivity on the Manali-Leh route.
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The construction of this state-of-the-art engineering marvel was a colossal test of the technical and engineering skills along with human endurance and machine efficacy. The tunnel was constructed in extremely harsh & challenging terrain, wherein the temperature in winters drops to as little as -25 degrees.
The tunnel is named after the former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and has a gamut of safety features. These include SCADA controlled fire-fighting, state-of-the-art electromechanical systems like the semi transverse ventilation, illumination and monitoring systems.
Adding to its lauds, the Atal Tunnel has been certified as the ‘World’s Longest Highway tunnel’ above 10,000 Feet by World Book of Records.
Having fragile geology and issues like seepage of Seri Nala, causing the flood-like situation in the Atal Tunnel, accompanied with high overburden & excessive snowfall were some of the facets of construction challenges successfully surmounted by the BRO’s ‘Karmyogis’.
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With the motto of ‘Connecting Places-Connecting People’, BRO has provided many engineering marvels to the nation besides offering the Indian Armed Forces – a strategic advantage by providing an alternate link to critical Ladakh Sector.
BRO’s important roads and bridges: In order to improve the border road connectivity in India, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last year, dedicated 24 bridges and 3 roads, built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in four states and two Union Territories across India. Moreover, he had also inaugurated Chisumle-Demchok road at Umling La Pass at over 19,000 feet in Ladakh which also holds the Guinness World Record of world’s highest motorable road!