Work started back in 2010 on the 8 km
long Rohtang Tunnel in Himachal Pradesh, engineers finally broke through on the
11th October 2017.
The project suffered several delays
and missed the 2015 deadline due to extremely difficult weather and other
inhospitable conditions. Added to that there were bans on rock mining, water
leakage, and delays in allotments of land needed for quarrying. There were
several challenges posed by geological problems for example in 2016 excavating
had to be paused due to weak strata hampering the rock-cutting process. The
tunnel building process was slow only advancing 6m/day using the drill and
blast approach, they were hampered by high temperatures in the summer making it
difficult for workers to remain underground for long. As a result the initial
budget of Rs 1,355 crore increased to Rs 4,035 crore.
The tunnel will finally be open for
traffic by 2019. It will cut the distance between Manali and Keylong, the
district headquarters of the Lahual district, by 48km. Vehicles will no longer
have to cross the Rohtang pass. The road to the tunnel will divert from the
existing Manali-Leh highway at Palchan, 9km from Manali, and will again join
the highway near Gufa Hotel in Sissu. For further information click in/32
for the tunnelbuilder archive. Visit http://bro.nic.in,
www.strabag.com and www.afcons.com. 42/17.
