Key tunnel in Arunachal to be ready by Sept-end
The foundation stone of the ₹700 crore Sela tunnel on the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang (BCT) road was laid in February 2019
NEW DELHI:
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is set to complete the Sela tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, the world’s longest twin-lane tunnel above 13,000 ft that will allow faster deployment of weapons and soldiers to forward areas in Tawang, by end of September at a time when India has sharpened its focus on developing infrastructure near the China border, officials aware of the matter said on Sunday.
The foundation stone of the ₹700 crore Sela tunnel on the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang (BCT) road was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2019.
Another key project for improved connectivity in forward areas, the Nechiphu tunnel in the northeastern state is set to be inaugurated next week, said one of the officials, asking not to be named. The 500m tunnel has been built at a height of 5,700 ft on the BCT road in West Kameng.
“There was some delay in the completion of the Sela tunnel project as cloudbursts and landslides damaged one of the approach roads during the rainy season. It is now on the verge of completion and should be ready in four weeks,” said a second official, who also declined to be named. The defence ministry will seek time from Modi to inaugurate the Sela tunnel, the officials said.
The project is significant as winter connectivity to Tawang over the 14,000 ft Sela pass posed a logistics challenge for the army for decades, with the movement of men, weapons and stores severely affected for three to four months every year. The new tunnel will cut down the travel time to Tawang by at least one hour, as well as provide all-weather connectivity.
The tunnel was expected to be completed and opened last year, but was earlier delayed due to prolonged winters slowing down construction and technical aspects such as delay in concrete setting inside the tunnel, the officials said.
The project consists of Tunnel 1, which is 980 m long, and Tunnel 2, a 1,555 m twin tube tunnel. The tunnels have come up through two ridges west of Sela. The project also includes two roads, measuring 7 km and 1.3 km, respectively. Tunnel 2 has one bi-lane tube for traffic and one escape tube for emergencies. Only tunnels longer than 1,500 m need to have an escape passage alongside.
More than 50 engineers and 500 BRO workers are involved in the construction of the Sela tunnel using latest Austrian tunneling techniques, which involve observing and studying the rock, and designing tunnel support according to rock behaviour.
The Nechiphu tunnel will be remotely inaugurated by defence minister Rajnath Singh on September 12, the day the minister inaugurates the BRO’s Devak bridge near Jammu and dedicates around 90 other infrastructure projects to the nation including roads, tunnels, bridges and airfields.
Singh will also lay the foundation stone of the Indian Air Force’s Nyoma fighter base in eastern Ladakh on September 12. A crew of women officers will spearhead the upgradation of the Nyoma advanced landing ground near the Line of Actual Control to a full-fledged base for fighter operations as India steps up infrastructure development along its farthest frontiers to support military operations and counter Chinese infrastructure construction across the contested border, where the two countries have been locked in a standoff for more than three years.
The BRO, which is at the centre of the border infrastructure push, hopes to complete the ₹214 crore project by September 2025.
It completed 103 infrastructure projects in forward areas last year, including bridges, roads and helipads, while 102 projects were dedicated to the nation in 2021, the officials said. The BRO is expected to complete 150 more projects by the year-end, they added.
The BRO has accelerated the pace of infrastructure construction during the last few years, official data shows. It constructed an average of 934 km of roads every year during 2020-23, compared to 809 km per year during 2015-20, and 632 km per year during 2008-15. The ongoing projects include construction of key roads in Ladakh, including the Nimu-Padam-Darcha road, the Chushul-Dungti-Fukche-Demchok road and the Likaru-Mig La-Fukche road, the officials added.