BRO ADG inspects Sela Tunnel project in Arunachal Pradesh

Additional Director General of Border Roads Organization (BRO) P K H Singh on Thursday inspected the Sela Tunnel project in Arunachal Pradesh.
BRO ADG inspects Sela Tunnel project in Arunachal Pradesh

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: Additional Director General of Border Roads Organization (BRO) P K H Singh on Thursday inspected the Sela Tunnel project in Arunachal Pradesh.

The ADG (East) travelled on the final alignment of the project which was completed only a few hours before his arrival, Tezpur-based Defence Spokesman Col A S Walia informed.

The ADG was briefed by Project Vartak Chief Engineer Brig Raman Kumar on the progress of the project.Singh appreciated the site team for their efforts despite inclement weather and extremely challenging terrain.The ADG would also inspect all other critical road of West Kameng and Tawang districts during his current tour to the area.

BRO is steadfast in its effort for forward connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh and the progress is being monitored at the highest levels, the spokesman added.

The Sela tunnel, located at a height of 13,700 feet will offer all weather connectivity for the Indian Army to the LAC near Tawang along the Indo-China border.The tunnel, being executed by BRO's Project Vartak, is targeted to be complete by July next year, with works going on in full swing.The movement through present Sela Pass road is affected badly due to heavy snowfall during the winter.

The tunnel project included widening of existing single lane road to NH double lane specifications from Baisaki and then taking off a greenfield alignment of 12.37 km length and construction of two tunnels to bypass Sela and a number of hairpin bends. The altitude of the new alignment will vary between 11,000 and 12,000 feet.

Two tunnels of 475 m and 1790 m length through Sela-Chabrela ridge that divides West Kameng from Tawang district, are being built to meet existing Balipara-Charduar-Tawang (BCT) road on Nuranang side, obviating high altitude, steep gradient and hair pin bends on either side of Sela pass, reducing distance by about 8-9 km and travel time at least by an hour to bring relief to commuters.

In fact, there are two tunnels including one twin tube. One bi-lane tube in Tunnel 2 is for traffic, and one escape tube is for emergencies. The requirement for an escape passage is only applicable to tunnels longer than 1,500 m. Moreover, the tunnels would ensure that NH-13, especially in the 171 km Bomdila-Tawang stretch, remains accessible in all weather conditions.

The first blast of the tunnel was on January 15, last year while, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from New Delhi had virtually conducted the last blast on October 14 this year.

Also Watch:

Top Headlines

No stories found.
Sentinel Assam
www.sentinelassam.com