Transforming mountains by building roads
These two states and especially the high mountain passes of these states were very difficult to reach. But the road infrastructure in these states has improved dramatically in the last decade.
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Mountains are always places with low accessibility. India is blessed with many mountain ranges, but most important of all is the Himalayas. And two Indian states are the majority mountainous states, ie., Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
These two states and especially the high mountain passes of these states were very difficult to reach. But the road infrastructure in these states has improved dramatically in the last decade. Many roads are being built to connect far-flung places, holy cities, and tourist destinations. Many tunnels are being built to provide access to the citizens living beyond some mountains. Such tunnels and roads have reduced the travel times in these states by any hours and made lives easier for people living in these states. Let us analyze the road infrastructure development in these states with the help of a highway project and a Tunnel.
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Char Dham National Highway, is an under construction two-lane (in each direction) express National Highway with a minimum width of 10 meters in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The under construction highway will complement the under-construction Char Dham Railway by connecting the four holy places in Uttarakhand states namely Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri. The project includes 900 km of national highways which will connect the whole of Uttarakhand state. The total cost of ₹12,000 crores and the foundation stone of the project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 December 2016 at Parade Ground in Dehradun. The highway will be called Char Dham Mahamarg (Char Dham Highway) and the highway construction project will be called Char Dham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojana (Char Dham Highway Development Project) and is made to improve the connectivity to the Chota Char Dham nestled in the Himalayas. The road will include several long bridges and tunnels to eliminate accidents and slide-prone areas. Indian Railways and National Highways Authority of India have been directed, by the Chief Secretary of India, to ensure that rail and road highway routes are integrated on this circuit. Originating from Rishikesh, the Char Dham highway network will have four distinct routes, from west to east and south to north. Rishikesh–Yamunotri, Rishikesh–Gangotri, Rishikesh–Kedarnath, and Rishikesh–Badrinath and the main connections of this route while it also goes through Joshimath, Gaurikund, Rudraprayag and Dharasu. Once completed this project will transform traveling to Uttarakhand to an unimaginable level. According to the union ministry of road transport and Highway, The Ministry has taken up a separate program for connectivity Improvement for Char-Dham (Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri & Gangothri) in Uttarakhand. Out of a total of 53 civil works covering the entire length of 889 km under the Chardham project, 40 civil works of total project cost amounting to Rs. 9474 crore (including the cost of pre-construction works amounting to Rs. 491 cr.) in a length of 673 km have been sanctioned. 34 works in a length of 604 km amounting to Rs. 7923 cr. have been awarded out of which 30 works amounting to Rs. 7679 cr. in the length of 589 km are ongoing and 78 km length has been completed till March 2019 and 2 works amounting to Rs. 141 cr. in a length of 1.1 km have completed. In the remaining 2 works, appointed dates are yet to be given.
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Another project which we will analyze is the Atal tunnel in Himachal Pradesh. Atal Tunnel (also known as Rohtang Tunnel), named after former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee is a highway tunnel built under the Rohtang Pass in the eastern Pir Panjal ranges of the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali Highway in Himachal Pradesh, India. 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. With the existing Atal Tunnel and after the completion of the under-construction Shingo La Tunnel, which is targeted to be completed by 2025, the new Leh-Manali Highway via Nimmu–Padum–Darcha road will become all-weather roads. The tunnel reduces the travel time and overall distance between Manali and Keylong on the way to Leh. The route, which previously went through Gramphu, was 116 km (72.1 mi) long and took 5 to 6 hours in good conditions. A traveler now reaches the South Portal of the tunnel from Manali, a distance of 24.4 km (15.2 mi) in about 45 minutes, goes through the 9.02 km (5.6 mi) long tunnel in about 15 minutes and reaches Keylong which is 37 km (23.0 mi) away in about 60 minutes. The new route via the tunnel brings down the total distance traveled to 71 km (44.1 mi) which can be covered in about 2 hours, a reduction of around 3 to 4 hours when compared to the earlier route. Moreover, the tunnel bypasses most of the sites that were prone to road blockades, avalanches, and traffic snarls. The tunnel is at an elevation of 3,100 meters (10,171 ft) whereas the Rohtang Pass is at an elevation of 3,978 meters (13,051 ft). It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 3 October 2020. The cost of the entire project is ₹3,200 crores (US$438 million). The tunnel was completed by the Border Roads Organisation(BRO) under the Ministry of Defence.
When Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the Prime Minister, locals suggested his childhood friend Arjun Gopal visit him to talk about Rohtang Tunnel. Gopal and two companions, Cheering Dorje and Abhay Chand, moved to Delhi. After a year of discussions, Vajpayee went to Lahaul in June 2000 and declared that the Rohtang Tunnel would be constructed. RITES conducted a feasibility study. In 2000, the project was estimated to cost ₹500 crore and be completed in seven years. On 26 May 2002, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), a tri-service organization of the Defence Ministry specializing in road and bridge construction in difficult terrains, headed by Lt. Gen. Prakash Suri, PVSM, was put in charge of construction. The approach road to the tunnel entrance was inaugurated by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However, the project did not move beyond the tree-felling stage by May 2003. By December 2004, the cost estimate had grown to ₹900 crores. In May 2007, the government of Dr. Manmohan Singh awarded the contract to SMEC (Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation) International Private Limited, an Australian company, and the completion date was revised to 2014. However, there was no progress for the next three years, until May 2010. The most challenging task was to continue the excavation during heavy snowfall in winter. Excavation for tunneling was done from both ends. However, as the Rohtang pass closes during the winter, the north portal was not accessible during winter and the excavation was being done only from the south portal in winters. Only about one-fourth of the entire tunnel was excavated from the north end and three-fourths were excavated from the south end. There were more than 46 avalanche sites on approaches to the tunnel. Other challenges to the progress of the tunnel included difficulties in disposing of more than 8 lakh m³ of excavated rock and soil, heavy ingress of water (as much as 30 lakh liters per day in June 2012) that required constant dewatering, costlier treatment, and slowed the progress of excavation from 5-meter per day to just half a meter a day and unstable rocks that slowed blasting and digging. A cloud burst and a flash flood on 8 August 2003 killed 42 laborers who were building the temporary access road. Questions were also raised on the impact of cutting down more than 700 trees on the ecology.
But now after the completion of this tunnel, the distance has reduced from hours to mere minutes. Apart from Rohtang, many villages like Sissu, Tandi, and Keylong have also started attracting tourists in a huge number. Atal Tunnel has transformed this region to an unimaginable level.