UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Monday laid the foundation stone of the strategic 8.8-km-long Rohtang tunnel through the Himalayan ranges at Manali.
Defence minister A.K. Antony was also present on the occasion besides several dignitaries, including Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. However, J
ammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah skipped the function as he preferred to remain in Srinagar to monitor the situation arising out of the killings in series of CRPF and police firings in and outside the town of Sopore.
The tunnel to be built at an altitude of over 3,000 metres in the Pir Panjal range will facilitate an all-weather road link across the snow-capped Rohtang Pass (3,978 m) and provide unhindered road access to the remote regions of Lahaul-Spiti and Pangi valley throughout the year, besides reducing the road distance by nearly 48 km, a travel time of about four hours.
The brief foundation stone laying ceremony was held at the South Portal, 15 km from Manali, where the drilling work on the tunnel commenced on Monday itself, a defence spokesperson here said.
Mrs Gandhi was also accompanied by Union steel minister Vir Bhadra Singh, minister of state for defence M.M. Pallam Raju, defence secretary Pradeep Kumar, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), director-general, Lt. Gen. M.C. Badhani and other officials from the state and ministry of defence.
While addressing a public rally near Manali, the UPA chairperson said the project was the dream of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and expressed satisfaction that it was finally on its way to being realised.
The tunnel at an outlay of Rs 1,495 crores is expected to be completed by the BRO by February 2015. The horse-shoe shaped tunnel will be a two-way lane in a single tube, 11.25 metres wide. The tunnel is expected to give a boost to tourism in the region.