Thaindian News

By Sarwar Kashani
Solang (Himachal Pradesh), June 27 (IANS) This picturesque valley tucked in the snow-capped Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh is all decked up to welcome Congress president Sonia Gandhi who will lay the foundation stone Monday of a nearly 9 km-long tunnel expected to be an engineering wonder.

Gandhi will be flying to Manali Monday morning from where she will travel by road along the 25-km hilly stretch to the south portal of the Rohtang tunnel located at Dhundi near here.

An inscription, cast on black granite already there, reads: “Foundation stone of Rohtang Tunnel laid by National Advisory Council Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on June 28, 2010.”

There will be a multi-faith prayer meeting before Gandhi inaugurates the excavation work of the prestigious project, expected to cost nearly Rs.1,500 crore (nearly 30 million USD). Priests from Hindu, Muslim, Christianity and Buddhist sects have been invited to pray for the accomplishment of what some Border Roads Organisation (BRO) officials term as a “grave geological challenge”.

“It is in avalanche prone area, - an enemy which is ruthless and unpredictable,” an official said.

Once completed, scheduled February 2015, the 8.8 km-long tunnel will be a key element in the Indian Army’s efforts to make the 475-km-long Manali-Keylong-Leh highway motorable round-the-year for access to forward areas in Ladakh bordering China and Pakistan.

Currently the only all-weather road route to Ladakh is through Kargil which is within firing range of the Pakistan military and was at the centre of the 1999 India-Pakistan military conflict.

The single-tube double-lane Rohtang tunnel, being hailed as an “engineering marvel”, is expected to see heavy traffic, throwing up the challenges of vehicular management and pollution checking.

But the BRO that is building the tunnel says it will have sensors to check pollution level and if it rises to alarming levels then more fresh air would be injected inside to blow the “obnoxious gases out”.

“Pollution level will be controlled within 90 seconds,” Lt Col Vinod Shukla of the BRO told IANS. He said two heavy duty fans each on both openings of the tunnel will be installed to inject fresh air.

The horse shoe-shaped tunnel will have CCTV cameras after every 250 meters that will be connected to two monitoring rooms on both ends of the tunnel.

After laying the foundation stone, Gandhi will visit Solang Valley, 14 km from Manali.

A huge tent has already been erected for an anticipated crowd of hundreds to hear her and other dignitaries, including Defence Minister A.K. Antony, two chief ministers - Prem Kumar Dhumal of Himachal Pradesh and Omar Abdullah of Jammu and Kashmir and Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh.

The Rohtang tunnel will throw open the remote Lahaul and Spiti tribal regions of Himachal Pradesh to the rest of the country all year round, besides providing a huge boost to tourism in the area. That is what Gandhi is expected to highlight at the rally.

(Sarwar Kashani can be contacted at s.kashani@ians.in)