The construction of the Atal Tunnel, the world’s longest highway tunnel above 10,000 feet, connecting Manali with Leh, has been completed in a span of 10 years against the original estimated time of less than six years, said KP Purushothaman, Chief Engineer of the project.

Explaining the functionalities, KP Purushothaman told ANI, “There are CCTV cameras at every 60 metres and emergency exit tunnels at every 500 metres inside the tunnel. The tunnel will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kilometres and save four hours.”

Fire hydrants have also been installed inside the tunnel, named after former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in case of any fire incident.

“The induction and de-induction of resources was a difficult task while it was under construction. We did face a lot of challenges but together we were able to complete its construction. The tunnel’s width is 10.5 metres, including footpath of 1 metre on both sides,” said Purushothaman.

Speaking to ANI, Colonel Parikshit Mehra, director of Atal Tunnel project, said experts working within the team opined to change the alignment of the tunnel during its making.

“We have had this dream to connect Leh and this was the first step to the connectivity ladder. This tunnel was a challenging project because we were working only from two ends. The other end was in North, across the Rohtang Pass, which was accessible only for around five months in a year,” he added. 

The Prime Minister will inaugurate the Atal tunnel this month and the preparations for it are at its peak.