PM Modi to dedicate Sela tunnel to nation on March 9
The Sela project consists of Tunnel 1, which is 1,003 metres long, and Tunnel 2, a 1,595-metre twin tube tunnel
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday dedicate the Sela tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh to the country, with the new route allowing faster deployment of weapons, soldiers and equipment to forward areas near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Tawang sector, officials aware of the matter said on Friday.
Modi will remotely inaugurate the tunnel, built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) at a cost of Rs.825 crore, from Itanagar. It is the world’s longest twin-lane tunnel above 13,000 feet.
The project is significant as winter connectivity to Tawang over the 14,000-foot pass, Sela, 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 tunnel will cut down the travel time to Tawang by at least one hour as well as provide all-weather connectivity.
Sela tunnel will not only boost the country’s defence preparedness but will also give a fillip to the region’s socio-economic development, the officials said. The tunnel has been designed for a traffic density of 3,000 cars and 2,000 trucks per day, with a maximum speed of 80 kmph.
The Sela project consists of Tunnel 1, which is 1,003 metres long, and Tunnel 2, a 1,595-metre twin tube tunnel. The tunnels have come up through two ridges west of Sela. The project also includes two roads measuring 8.6 km. Tunnel 2 has one bi-lane tube for traffic and one escape tube for emergencies. Only tunnels longer than 1,500 metres need to have an escape passage alongside.
The completion of the Sela tunnel, whose foundation stone was laid by Modi in February 2019, has put the spotlight on India’s border infrastructure push aimed at bridging the gap with China, which has fast-tracked the development of its forward areas. India and China have been locked in a dragging military standoff along LAC in eastern Ladakh since May 2020, and a full resolution of the border crisis through ongoing negotiations still appears elusive.
BRO has completed 330 infrastructure projects at a cost of Rs.8,737 crore in the last three years and significantly improved the strategic mobility of the Indian armed forces along the contested border with China.