Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Atal Tunnel at Rohtang in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday. The Atal Rohtang Tunnel connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley and reduces the distance between Manali and Leh in Ladakh by 46 km and cuts travelling time by four to five hours.

Reports said the Atal Tunnel, described as the longest highway tunnel in the world, has been built with ultra-modern specifications in the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

Prime Minister Modi said the Atal Tunnel will be a lifeline for Leh-Ladakh and will remain open throughout the year as the valley used to be cut off for about six months due to heavy snowfall. He said that work on another bridge, Kosi Mahasetu, the foundation of which was laid by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Bihar, has been expedited once his government took charge. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who was at the inauguration, inspected the Atal Tunnel along with Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur and Union Minister of State for Finance Minister Anurag Thakur. Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat and Border Road Organisation’s director-general Lt Gen Harpal Singh were among the leaders who attended the event.

The decision to construct the tunnel was taken in June of 2000 and the Modi government decided to name it in Vajpayee’s memory.

Atal Tunnel constructed as a horseshoe-shaped, single-tube, double-lane tunnel with a span of 8 metres. It has an overhead clearance of 5.525 metres. It is 10.5-metre wide and has a 3.6 x 2.25 metres fireproof emergency exit built into the main tunnel itself.

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There are some safety features inside the tunnel-like entry barriers at both ends, telephone connections every 150 metres for emergency communication, auto incident detection system with CCTV cameras every 250 metres, air quality monitoring at every 1 Km, broadcasting system throughout the tunnel, cameras at every 60 metres etc.

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