Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate Atal tunnel on Leh-Manali highway in Himachal Pradesh’s Rohtang on October 3.
“According to the Prime Minister’s tentative programme, he will come to Manali on October 3 for inaugurating the tunnel and will also visit Lahaul,” said Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while talking to the mediapersons here.
The Chief Minister said that it is not yet decided if the Prime Minister will address a public rally in Lahaul that day.
The Rohtang tunnel has been named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had announced the project on June 3, 2000. The work to build it was entrusted to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
The 9.2-km tunnel is the world’s longest above an altitude of 3,000 metres and will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 km.
The tribal district of Lahaul-Spiti which remains cut off for six months due to heavy snowfall at Rohtang Pass, is expected to benefit from the tunnel’s construction. Also, the tunnel will be not only important from the strategic point of view but is expected to give a boost to tourism in Lahaul-Spiti.
