India is a glorious land. From monuments to forts, to engineering marvels, India is considered as one of the foremost nation-builders and this country has been looked upon even by the most developed and well-off nations as stated by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In terms of ‘Engineering Marvels,’ Border Roads Organisation – BRO’s Atal Tunnel has recently been certified as the ‘World’s Longest Highway tunnel’ above 10,000 Feet by World Book of Records.
The Atal Tunnel has proved to be a boon for the tourism industry in Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal pradesh and subsequently opened many avenues for tourism development in the Rohtang region. Since the inauguration of Atal tunnel in 2019, the tourist activities and the influx have seen an exponential rise of 622%, indicating a new era of growth and socio-economic development in the area. The number suggests that the tourist arrival has seen a jump from 1,32,983 in 2019 to 9,60,952 in the year 2021.
On the path of Recovery:
Corona pandemic induced lockdown led to the decline in Himachal Pradesh’s tourism industry but the state is now on the path of recovery with the tourist influx registering an increase of approximately 75% last year in comparison to the preceding year. There are various contributing factors in the increase in the number of tourists in 2021 including:
– Ease of Covid Curbs
– Opening of Atal Tunnel
– Majestic Snow Spell at major tourist destinations
– Reopening of Hotels/Restaurants & other tourist essential places
The Atal tunnel was thrown open to the public in October 2020. A maximum of 9,25,216 tourists were registered in July last year and the lowest accounting to 51,243 in the month of May.
Connecting Places-Connecting People:
Nestled in Pir Panjal Ranges of the Himalayas, the visionary project of ‘Atal Tunnel’ is 9.02 km long & strategically significant. It runs under the ‘Rohtang Pass’(13,500 feet above sea level), which was constructed on the Manali – Leh Highway under the extremely challenging conditions of freezing cold in mountainous difficult terrain.
Notably, before the construction of the tunnel, the arterial road connecting Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh from the rest of India used to remain closed during the winter season for around 6 months. With the construction of the Atal tunnel, the distance on Manali – Sarchu road has been reduced by 46 km and travel time by 4-5 hours, providing all-weather connectivity on the Manali – Leh axis.
The construction of the state-of-art engineering marvel was a mammoth test of technical & engineering skills along with human endurance and machine efficacy. The tunnel has been constructed in extremely harsh and challenging terrain, wherein the temperature in winters drops to bone-chilling -25 degrees.
With fragile geology and hindrances like seepage of Seri Nala, causing the flood-like situation in the Atal Tunnel, accompanied with high overburden & excessive snowfall were some of the facets of construction challenges successfully surmounted by the BRO’s ‘Karmyogis’. The nation’s pride Atal Tunnel was dedicated to India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 03, 2020.
With the motto of ‘Connecting Places-Connecting People’, BRO has provided many engineering marvels to the nation besides offering the Indian Armed Forces – a strategic advantage by providing an alternate link to the critical Ladakh Sector.
BRO’s strategically important bridges & roads
With the view to improve border road connectivity in India, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh later in the year 2021 dedicated 24 bridges and three roads, built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in four states and two Union Territories across the country. Besides that, Defence Minister also e-inaugurated Chisumle-Demchok road at Umling La Pass at over 19,000 feet in Ladakh which also holds the Guinness World Record of world’s highest motorable road.
