The creation of the Atal Tunnel connecting Manali with Leh, that’s the world’s longest highway tunnel above 10,000 ft, has been finished in a span of 10 years while the authentic estimated time was much less than six years.
“Atal Tunnel, connecting Manali to Leh, is the world’s longest highway tunnel above 10,000 feet. The estimated period for completion of this tunnel was less than 6 years but it was completed in 10 years,” said KP Purushothaman, Chief Engineer.
“There are CCTV cameras at every 60 metres and emergency exit tunnels at every 500 metres inside the tunnel. The tunnel will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kilometres and four hours can be saved,” said Purushothaman.
“The induction and de-induction of resources was a difficult task while it was under construction. We did face a lot of challenges but together we were able to complete its construction. The tunnel’s width is 10.5 metres, including footpath of 1 metre on both sides,” said Purushothaman.
Speaking to ANI, Colonel Parikshit Mehra, Director, Atal Tunnel project stated that many professionals running inside the group had been of the opinion to alternate the alignment of the tunnel.
“We have had this dream to connect Leh and this was the first step to the connectivity ladder. This tunnel was a challenging project because we were working only from two ends. The other end was in North, across the Rohtang Pas which was accessible only for around five months in a year,” he further added.
