Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation the world’s longest high altitude tunnel, the Atal Tunnel,  at Rohtang tomorrow.  It is built at an altitude of 10000 feet. The 9.2 km long highway tunnel  has been constructed at an estimated cost of 3,200 crore rupees.  

The tunnel will prove to be beneficial for the development of the tribal area of Lahaul-Spiti which remains isolated for six months due to heavy snowfall at Rohtang Pass. AIR correspondent reports from Rohtang in Lahul Spiti.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the world’s longest 9.2 km all-weather motorable  Atal tunnel Rohtang located at an altitude of 10,000 feet to the people of the country tomorrow. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will also be present on this occasion.

With the opening of this tunnel the distance between Manali and Leh will be reduced by  46 km while drive time by around 5 hours thus saving crore of rupees in transport. On the other hand, the people of Lahaul valley will now get year-round connectivity, which otherwise remains cut off from the rest of the world for over four months during heavy snowfall in winter.

The special feature of this double lane tunnel is that it has a telephone facility, fire hydrants, escape egress tunnel, air quality monitoring, CCTV cameras, a broadcasting system, and an automatic incident detection system at every fixed distance.

No doubt, Atal Tunnel Rohtang is an important achievement from a strategic point of view for the nation. Apart from this, the tunnel will also bring significant changes in the socio-economic development of the people of the region.