 "Sela tunnel")
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is all set to complete the world's longest twin-lane road tunnel built above 13000 feet, in Arunachal Pradesh. The tunnel is called the Sela tunnel, which is situated above 13,000 ft, and this tunnel aims to aid the Indian army with faster deployments of weapons and soldiers to the forward Tawang areas by the end of September 2023. India is focused on developing the infrastructure of the new China border, says officials.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation of this Sela tunnel in February 2019. This tunnel is the government's Rs 700 crore project based on the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang (BCT) road.
Nechiphu tunnel, which is located in the northeastern state, is another key project to enhance connectivity in forward areas. The 500 m tunnel has been built at a height of 5,700 ft in West Kameng's BCT roads, says one of the officials.
Delay in the Sela project
According to the Hindustan Times report, an official said that the tunnel was expected to be operative a year ago, but the project was delayed due to prolonged winters which slowed down the construction and technical aspects as it caused delays in setting concrete inside the tunnel.
Another official said, “There was some delay in the completion of the Sela tunnel project as cloudbursts and landslides damaged one of the approach roads during the rainy season. It is now on the verge of completion and should be ready in four weeks.”
The defence ministry will seek time from PM Modi to inaugurate the Sela tunnel.
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More about the Sela Tunnel project
The Sela project consists of two tunnels, Tunnel 1 is 980 m long and Tunnel 2 is 1,555 m long. It also consists of two roads of 7 km and 1.3 km, respectively. The Tunnel 2 also has an escape tube for emergencies and one bi-lane tube for traffic. Only those tunnels need to have escape passages which are 1,500 m long.
In the Sela Tunnel project, over 50 engineers and 500 BRO workers are working with the help of the Austrian tunnelling technique, which observes and studies the behaviour of the rocks and then designs the tunnel accordingly.
Project to be completed by September 2025
The BRO is expected to complete the Rs 214 crore project by September 2025 which is at the centre of the border infrastructure push.
The BRO officials said that BRO completed 103 infrastructure projects in forward areas last year which include bridges, roads, and helipads. In the year 2021, 102 projects will be dedicated to the nation, and the Border Roads Organisation hopefully will complete 150 more projects by the end of the year.
The official data reveals that the BRO has accelerated the construction speed in the last few years. The BRO team has been constructing 934 km of roads every year during the period of 2020 to 2023, which is more than the 2015-20 period when the speed was 809 km per year, and the speed was way lower in 2008 to 2015 period when the road development speed was 632 km per year.
The current BRO projects include key roads in the Ladakh region, which include the Chushul-Dungti-Fukche-Demchok road, Nimu-Padam-Darcha road and the Likaru-Mig La-Fukche road.
