The Atal Tunnel will prove to be as a help not only for a major part of Himachal Pradesh but for Ladakh too, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi subsequent to introducing the passage at Rohtang on Saturday.
“Atal Tunnel, apart from a big region in Himachal Pradesh, will also become a lifeline for the new union territory Ladakh. With this, Leh-Ladakh, and this big region of Himachal Pradesh will always stay connected with the other parts of the country, and will quickly move forward on the path to progress,” the Prime Minister said at the inauguration ceremony of the Atal Tunnel here.
“This passage will decrease the separation among Manali and Kelong by three to four hours. My siblings and sisters from the hills can comprehend the importance of this,” he said.
Naming it a notable day, Prime Minister Modi said that the wait of crores of Himachal occupants has come to an end alongside the satisfaction of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream with the passage’s inauguration.
The PM further recounted that he had previously served in the region to look after the party’s organisational setup.
He thanked and saluted all jawans, engineers, labourers who had risked their lives to ensure the completion of the tunnel.
“Atal Tunnel will give new strength to India’s border infrastructure. It is an example of world-class border connectivity. There have been demands to improve border infrastructure but for a long time, such projects either couldn’t get out of the planning stage or got stuck midway. Connectivity has a direct connection with development. Connectivity in border areas is directly related to security,” PM Modi said.
He further included that the development of the passage had been postponed once the previous PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s administration left force, followed by the Congress-drove UPA government.
“Atal Ji laid the foundation stone of approach road of this tunnel in 2002. Once his government went out of power, this job was most likely forgotten. Till 2013-2014, progress was made only on 1,300 meters of this tunnel. Experts say that if the pace of progress had continued at the same rate then the tunnel would have likely been completed by 2040. After 2014, the project progressed with an unprecedented pace. Every problem which BRO faced was removed, as a result, while earlier every year 300 metre tunnel was being constructed, it was increased to 1,400 metre per year. We completed 26 years work in just six years,” the PM said.
Focusing on that such postponements in infrastructural make the nation face misfortunes consistently, he said that in addition to the fact that it keeps the residents denied of duties, yet it additionally influences the nation financially. While the underlying assessment for the consummation of the tunnel was Rs 950 crores, it had been finished at an expense of over Rs 3,200 crores, at more than three times the underlying worth, he said.
“Emphasis has been put on the development of border infrastructure. Its benefits are being extended to the common people as well as our armed forces personnel. There is nothing more important for us than protecting the country. But the country has also seen that a period when the defense interests of the country were compromised,” he said.
The PM further named a few other key undertakings that were additionally deferred.
“The deliberately significant Daulat Beg Oldi airstrip in Ladakh stayed shut for 40-45 years. I would prefer not to go into subtleties with respect to what was the powerlessness and the pressure behind it. Much has been composed and told about it, yet the facts demonstrate that the Air Force had the option to begin the airstrip as its very own result advantages, there was no political will in it,” he stated, including that he could enroll many such deliberately significant undertakings were sidelined for quite a long time.
“Another extension is related with the name of Atal Ji-the Kosi Mahasetu. It associates two parts of Bihar’s Mithilanchal locale, it was initiated by Atalji just, however its work got postponed. In 2014 subsequent to coming to control we assisted work on the scaffold. Only a couple of days earlier the initiation of Kosi Mahasetu occurred,” he said.
Prior in the day, the Prime Minister introduced the Atal Tunnel, which at 9.02 km is the longest highway tunnel in the world and associates Manali to Lahaul-Spiti Valley in Rohtang.
CM Jairam Thakur, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of State (MoS) Anurag Thakur, Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, and Army Chief General MM Naravane were additionally present at the service, which was held soon after 10 am.
The tunnel will ensure movement throughout the year. Earlier, the Valley was cut off for about six months each year owing to heavy snowfall. The tunnel reduces the road distance by 46 kilometres between Manali and Leh and the time by about four to five hours.