Heavy machinery works at the Rohtang tunnel site
Manali:
Half of Rohtang tunnel, which will ensure an all-weather link to Ladakh, has been bored, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has said.
"Construction of civil works of the tunnel is in progress, and a progress of about 4.16 km tunnel heading has been achieved till date," Jaitley informed Lahaul-Spiti legislator Ravi Thakur in a missive last week.
The defence minister, replying to Thakur's letter, said the work was in progress from both the north and south portals of the 8.8-km-long tunnel.
"However, certain difficulties such as significant change in rock class was encountered compared to what was initially assumed, and severe tunnelling conditions in some portions are being encountered," Jaitley admitted, while replying to the letter about the delay in execution of the horse-shoe-shaped tunnel.
The Rs.1,495-crore tunnel's foundation stone was laid by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi June 28, 2010, in the picturesque Solang Valley near here.
The Defence minister said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), an organisation under the defence ministry, has been directed to take appropriate measures for early completion of the tunnel, being built under the 3,978 metres Rohtang Pass in the Himalayas.
On completion, the tunnel will be a boon for the cold deserts of Lahaul Valley, where over 20,000 people remain cut off from the rest of the country in winter owing to the closure of the Rohtang Pass.
The tunnel, with a horse-shoe shaped cross-section, will be 11.25 metres wide at road level, providing ample room for two-way traffic, and is designed to cater to a maximum vehicular speed of 80 km per hour.
"Construction of civil works of the tunnel is in progress, and a progress of about 4.16 km tunnel heading has been achieved till date," Jaitley informed Lahaul-Spiti legislator Ravi Thakur in a missive last week.
The defence minister, replying to Thakur's letter, said the work was in progress from both the north and south portals of the 8.8-km-long tunnel.
"However, certain difficulties such as significant change in rock class was encountered compared to what was initially assumed, and severe tunnelling conditions in some portions are being encountered," Jaitley admitted, while replying to the letter about the delay in execution of the horse-shoe-shaped tunnel.
The Rs.1,495-crore tunnel's foundation stone was laid by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi June 28, 2010, in the picturesque Solang Valley near here.
The Defence minister said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), an organisation under the defence ministry, has been directed to take appropriate measures for early completion of the tunnel, being built under the 3,978 metres Rohtang Pass in the Himalayas.
On completion, the tunnel will be a boon for the cold deserts of Lahaul Valley, where over 20,000 people remain cut off from the rest of the country in winter owing to the closure of the Rohtang Pass.
The tunnel, with a horse-shoe shaped cross-section, will be 11.25 metres wide at road level, providing ample room for two-way traffic, and is designed to cater to a maximum vehicular speed of 80 km per hour.
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