Atal Tunnel certified by World Book of Records in London as World's longest highway tunnel

Rohtang tunnel or popularly known as Atal Tunnel which reduces the travel time and overall distance between Manali and Keylong on the way to Leh added another feather to its hat after it was officially recognised as the World's Longest Tunnel by World Books of Records in London. Co-in charge of Jammu Kashmir BJP unit Ashish Sood passed on the information via social media app KOO 

"’Atal Tunnel’ certified by World Book of Records as ’longest highway tunnel’ above 10,000ft. A moment of pride for India! An engineering marvel 🇮🇳" he said. The award was awarded in the name of Border Roads Organization, Ministry of Defence, India. 

The Tunnel is built under Rohtang Pass on the Leh-Manali Highway, Himachal Pradesh, India. Afcons Infrastructure Limited (Afcons) the company which excavated the tunnel was also conferred with the prestigious CII Industrial Innovation Award in 2021. Atal tunnel is 9.02km long which makes it the world longest single tube tunnel above 10,000 ft. (3048m) The cost of the entire project was reported to be ₹3,200 crores. the Tunnel allows a maximum speed of 80 km/hr and the minimum bar is set to 19 km/hr.

Timeline of Atal tunnel

 Dr John Bicknell Auden, Geological Survey of India, first came up with a plan to construct a tunnel through the Rohtang pass in 1942. The project was finally announced on June 3, 2000, by then PM Atal Vihari Vajpayee. Vajpayee entrusted the work to India's tri-service organisation of the Defence Ministry, Border Road Organisation (BRO) on 6 May 2002. The foundation stone was laid 8 years later by the current Congress president and then Chairperson of National Advisory Council, Sonia Gandhi on June 28, 2010. The project which was previously known as Rohtang tunnel was officially renamed Atal Tunnel in 2019 on the eve of ex-Prime Minister Atal Vihari Vajpayee's birthday which is on December 25. 

Atal was completed by September 2020 and inaugurated by current Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 3, 2020, in the presence of Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh, then Chief of Defence Staff Late Gen. Bipin Rawat, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Jai Ram Thakur and Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur.

(Image: PTI)