Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, while presiding over the meeting with the senior officers of Border Road Organisation (BRO) at Project Headquarter of Atal Tunnel, Manali in Kullu district, directed them for ensuring time bound completion of the ambitious Atal Tunnel project which would connect the landlocked hinterland Lahaul-Spiti in all weather with rest of the World.
Chief Minister said that Prime Minister was showing keen interest in early completion of this mega project, which was not only important from strategic point of view but would also prove boon to the people of the Lahaul Spiti district. He said that this project would be completed by spending an amount of Rs. 3500 crore.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the total length of this tunnel is about nine kilometers and would shorten the distance by 46 kilometres. He said that this tunnel was an engineering marvel and would be a major attraction to tourists. He said that the tunnel would have telephone facilities at every 150 meter, fire hydrants, emergency exit, air quality monitoring mechanism, broadcasting system, automatic incident detection system with CCTV cameras etc.
He said that tunnel once dedicated to the nation would ensure better and all weather connectivity to border areas of Ladakh and Kargil.
Later Chief Minister also visited the Atal Tunnel and inspected the progress of the work.
Chief Engineer BRO Brig. K.P. Purshothaman, VSM assured the Chief Minister that the project would be completed within a stipulated time period.
Agriculture Minister Dr. Ram Lal Markanda, Transport and Forest Minister Govind SinghThakur, Member of Parliament Ram Swaroop Sharma, MLA Banjar Surender Shourie, Principal Private Secretary to Chief Minister Dr. R.N. Batta, Deputy Commissioner Kullu Dr. Richa Verma and other officers were present on the occasion.
