Rohtang Tunnel : Rohtang Pass
Rohtang Tunnel is a tunnel being built under the Rohtang Pass in the eastern Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali Highway. With 8.8 km (5.5 mi) length, the tunnel will be one of the longest road tunnel in India (the longest road tunnel in India will be the Chenani-Nashri Tunnel or Patnitop tunnel north of Udhampur) and is expected to reduce the distance between Manali and Keylong by about 60 km (37.3 mi) The tunnel is at 3,100 metres (10,171 ft) elevation whereas the Rohtang pass is at 3,978 metres (13,051 ft) elevation 51 km (32 mi) away from Manali. The pass receives heavy snowfall and blizzards during winter months and is open for road traffic for only four months in a year. Lying on the Manali-Leh axis, this is one of the two routes to Ladakh. The other route through the Zoji La pass on the Srinagar-Drass-Kargil-Leh highway also gets blocked by snow for nearly four months in a year. These two routes are vital to feed military supplies into the sub-sector west (facing Aksai Chin) and the Siachen Glacier.
Rohtang tunnel is not exactly under Rohtang pass; it is slightly west of the pass. The southern end (portal) of the tunnel is reached by turning left at Palchan, 10 km north of Manali on the way to Rohtang pass or about 40 km before Rohtang pass. After crossing Solang village, Dhundi is reached after 10 km. The south end of the tunnel is just north of Dhundi across the {(Bhaga River) Tributary of Chenab River} at 32.3642° North and 77.1330° East coordinates.
The northern end of the tunnel meets the existing Manali-Leh highway near Teling village at 32.4388° North and 77.1642° East coordinates about 10 km west of Gramphu which is the first village after Rohtang Pass on the existing highway.
Rohtang tunnel was planned for ensuring an all-weather road route to strategically important areas of Ladakh and providing round-the-year connectivity to the remote Lahaul-Spiti valley. However, the construction of Rohtang tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity only to the Lahaul Valley of Himachal Pradesh up to Kyelang (Keylong). The all-weather road to Ladakh will require more tunnels: either at Shikunla, or at the passes located on the present Leh-Manali road for a year-round road connectivity to Ladakh.
The project was conceived in 1983 and announced by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 3 June 2000. The project was estimated to cost Indian rupee INR 5 billion and be completed in seven years. On 6 May 2002, the Border Roads Organization was entrusted with the construction of the tunnel, and on 23 May 2002, the work was inaugurated by Mr. Vajpayee. The cost of the project was revised to INR13.35 billion, with an expected completion by 2010.
However the work did not progress much, with the project not moving beyond the tree-felling stage by May 2003. By December 2004, the project cost estimate had escalated to INR17 billion In May 2007, the contract was awarded to SMEC (Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation) International Private Limited, an Australian company, and the completion date was revised to 2014. Despite multiple announcements that the work on the tunnel would begin in 2008, no progress had been made by November 2009.
The work was awarded to a joint venture of AFCONS Infrastructure Limited, an Indian construction company of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, and STRABAG AG, Austria in September 2009 after the Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the Rohtang Tunnel Project. The drilling of the Rohtang Tunnel through the Himalayan ranges began on 28 June 2010 at South Portal 30 km (19 mi) north of Manali.