ATAL TUNNEL            

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Context

• Atal Tunnel has officially been certified by World Book of Records, as the ‘World’s Longest Highway Tunnel above 10,000 Feet’.

 

About

• Atal Tunnel (also known as Rohtang Tunnel) is a highway tunnel built under the Rohtang Pass in the eastern Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali Highway in Himachal Pradesh.
• At a length of 9.02 km, it is the longest highway single-tube tunnel above 10,000 feet (3,048 m) in the world.

Significance

• The tunnel reduces the travel time and overall distance between Manali and Keylong on the way to Leh.
• The tunnel, besides offering the Armed Forces a strategic advantage by providing an alternate link to the critical Ladakh Sector, has also been a boon for the residents of Lahaul & Spiti District in Himachal Pradesh.
• The region has seen an unprecedented increase in the arrival of tourists, and in a little more than a year, the valley and the state have witnessed growth in the socio-economic domains.
• The Atal Tunnel is destined to play a defining role in the future development of the region.

 

Do you know? With the existing Atal Tunnel and after the completion of under-construction Shingo La Tunnel, which is targeted to be completed by 2024, both the Leh-Manali Highway and the Nimmu–Padum–Darcha road routes will become all-weather roads.   Shingo-La (also known as Shinku La) is a mountain pass in India, on the border between Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. This pass may be considered as an entry point to Lugnak Valley in Zanskar. The pass is on a long-distance footpath linking Zanskar and Lahaul.

 

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