Here are interesting things to know about the Atal Tunnel - world's longest highway tunnel connecting Manali with Leh...
Deepika Joshi
1) The 9-km Atal Tunnel is constructed at an estimated cost of ₹3,500 crore.
2) Atal Tunnel in Lahaul Spiti's Rohtang has shorten the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kms and drive time by around seven hours.
3) The tunnel provides a telephone facility on every 150 metres, fire hydrant on every 60 m, emergency exit on every 500 m, turning cavern on every 2.2 km, air quality monitoring on every one km, automatic incident detection system with CCTV cameras on every 250 metres.
4) It is meant to save crores of rupees in transport costs in the long run.
5) The tunnel has consumed 14,508 metric tonnes of steel and 2,37,596 metric tonnes of cement, and excavated out 14 lakh cubic metres soil and rocks, using the drill and blast technique for excavation and the New Austrian Tunnelling method for construction.
6) The decision to construct the strategic tunnel below the Rohtang Pass was taken on June 3, 2000, when Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.