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Work on country's longest road tunnel to begin next year

Staff Correspondent

The 8.802 km long Rohtang Tunnel is being designed to carry traffic load at 80 kmph

SHIMLA: The consultancy contract for the multi-crore Rohtang Tunnel project has been given to an Australian company, SMEC International Private Limited.

The contracts would be awarded by the end of the year and work on the country's longest road tunnel project would begin by next year, said Brigadier Krishan Pratap Singh, head of the project, here on Thursday.

He said the cost of constructing the tunnel had been projected at Rs. 943.32 crore and of building the road up to the north end and south end of the tunnel had been estimated at an additional Rs. 180.30 crore.

The tunnel will be 8.802 km long and is being designed to carry a traffic load at 80 km per hour. The target year for completion of the tunnel is 2014. It would help reduce the distance by 46 km and provide round-the-year access to Lahual Valley that gets landlocked due to heavy snow for six to seven months in a year, said Brig. Singh.

He said geological studies were being conducted and, depending on the rock structure, either the traditional drill and blast technique or the faster working boring machine would be employed to construct the tunnel which is of a great strategic interest to the defence forces.

If boring machine is deployed for construction, the completion of the tunnel could be advanced by a year, he added. The project has been envisaged to build an alternative year-round link to the Ladak region of Jammu and Kashmir.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated the prestigious project in May 2002. Meanwhile, access to the landlocked snow-bound Lahaul Valley of Himachal Pradesh will be permitted from May 10, as the Border Roads Organisation has cut through the major glaciers on the way to Rohtang Pass, Brig Singh announced on Thursday.

He said repair work was going on over the high-altitude road and emergency supplies of gas, food grains and other essential commodities would be allowed from this weekend.

For tourism and other general purposes Rohtang Pass (altitude 13,050 ft) will become operational by May 10, said Brig Singh.

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