Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the nearly 10 km long Atal Tunnel at an altitude of 3,000 meters above the sea level, the highest in the world. The tunnel which connects Manali to the Lahaul-Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh. It reduces the road distance by 46 km between Manali and Leh, and the travel time by up to four to five hours.
Earlier, the road remained inaccessible for upto six months every year due to heavy snowfall. The Atal Tunnel,named after former prime minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee, has been built with ultra-modern specifications in the Pir Panjal range of Himalayas. The South Portal of the Tunnel is located at a distance of 25 km from Manali at an altitude of 3,060 metres, while the North Portal of the Tunnel is located near Teling village, Sissu in Lahaul Valley at an altitude of 3,071 metres. According to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office, the single tube double lane tunnel with a roadway of eight metres and an overhead clearance of 5.525 metres is a horse-shoe shaped and has been designed for a traffic density of 3,000 cars per day, and 1,500 trucks per day with a maximum speed of 80 km/hr. The decision to construct a strategic tunnel below the Rohtang Pass in Himachal was taken on June 3, 2000 by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with the foundation stone laid for the access road on May 26, 2002.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the infrastructure as an engineering marvel. “Visited the Atal Tunnel, Rohtang to review the preparations for the inaugural ceremony. PM Shri Narendra Modi will dedicate the Tunnel to the nation. This 9.02 km long ‘Engineering Marvel’will connect Manali to Lahaul-Spiti Valley throughout the year,” Singh tweeted.
Furthermore, the tunnel can also connect Ladakh to Manali and Chandigarh throughout the year, as it would bypass Rohtang Pass. But passes like Thanglang La and Baralacha La can still cut off road access to Leh in harsh winters.
