Rohtang tunnel will be completed by 2014: Dhumal
December 14th, 2009 - 9:25 pm ICT by IANSDharamsala, Dec 14 (IANS) The Rohtang tunnel located beneath the majestic Rohtang Pass in Kullu district will be completed by 2014, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said Monday.
“The work on the Rohtang tunnel would start soon and it would be completed by 2014,” Dhumal told the state assembly.
He said the tunnel would not only provide an all-weather alternative road connectivity to the state’s tribal Lahaul and Spiti district and but also to Ladakh region in Jammu and Kashmir.
The nine-kilometer tunnel, the foundation for which was laid by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002, will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh in Jammu and Kashmir by 40 km, which is otherwise 475 km.
At present, due to heavy snowfall at the Rohtang Pass (13,050 feet), the road connectivity for Lahaul and Spiti and Leh from Himachal Pradesh remains disrupted for more than four months during winter.
The horseshoe shaped tunnel, some 300 km from Shimla, will be burrowed below the Rohtang Pass so that it avoids the heavy snow. It is estimated to cost around Rs.1,500 crore ($3.2 billion).
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) will construct the tunnel.
- Work on Rohtang tunnel partially suspended after snowfall - Nov 21, 2010
- Rohtang tunnel work in Himachal to begin June - May 05, 2010
- Sonia to lay Rohtang tunnel's foundation stone June 28 - Jun 03, 2010
- Rohtang Pass to be operational till Nov 15 - Nov 01, 2010
- Snow clearing work begins on Manali-Leh highway - Mar 01, 2011
- Working 24X7 to see light at the end of Rohtang tunnel - Jan 15, 2012
- Sonia Gandhi to lay Rohtang tunnel foundation Monday - Jun 25, 2010
- Manali-Leh road link may be used round-the-year - Jun 26, 2010
- Tight security ahead of Gandhi's visit - Jun 25, 2010
- Manali-Leh highway partially reopened - Jun 01, 2011
- Manali-Leh highway closed after landslides - Aug 06, 2010
- Snowfall ahead, BRO stops operations on Rohtang Pass - Nov 15, 2010
- With press of a button, Sonia launches Rohtang tunnel construction (Lead) - Jun 28, 2010
- Tunnel vision 2014 - to Ladakh by road in sleet and snow - Dec 08, 2009
- Rohtang Pass reopens after five months - May 25, 2011
Tags: border roads, bro, chief minister, connectivity, four months, heavy snow, heavy snowfall, jammu and kashmir, kashmir, lahaul and spiti district, manali, prime minister, rohtang pass, rs 1, spiti, state assembly, vajpayee, weather