Five key facts you need to know about the Atal Tunnel
The all-weather Atal tunnel inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 km and the travel time by four to five hours. The valley was earlier cut off for about six months every year due to heavy snowfall.
The tunnel, built with ultra-modern specifications, is located in the the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas at an altitude of 3,000 metres(10,000 feet). It is a horse-shoe shaped, single-tube, double-lane tunnel with a roadway of 8 metres and an overhead clearance of 5.525 metres.
Global technology giant Siemens has provided the technology for the tunnel’s automation across various processes including lighting.Sunil Mathur, managing director and CEO, Siemens Limited, told Business Standard that the tunnel has a fault-tolerant automation system that minimises the probability of a production failure to nearly nil, playing a decisive role when it comes to achieving maximum productivity.
