With Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to inaugurate it in a month’s time, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is busy giving finishing touches to the strategic 9-km long Atal Tunnel under the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh.
Originally designed as a 8.8-km long tunnel and named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in a tribute to him on his 95th birth anniversary, fresh GPS readings taken by the BRO after the work on it was completed showed that it was 9 km in length. The tunnel will be the world’s longest above an altitude of 3,000 metres and will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kilometres.
