PHK Singh (R) during his inspection trip at the Se-la tunnel. (Photo: Defence PRO - Tezpur)
Tezpur: The additional director general of Border Roads Organization (East), PKH Singh, inspected the progress made in the construction of the strategic Se-la tunnel, on Tuesday. He travelled to the site just hours after the final alignment of the tunnel was completed. Singh was briefed about the project by the Vartak chief engineer, Brigadier Raman Kumar.
The ADG appreciated the team working on the project for their efforts despite inclement weather and extremely challenging terrain. Singh is currently on an inspection tour in the Tawang sector where he is inspecting all critical roads of West Kameng and Tawang.
About the Se-la tunnel project
The construction of the road tunnel below the snow line at 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) above sea level began on October 15, 2020. After its completion, the tunnel, which is being excavated below the Se-la (Se pass) will give Assam’s strategically important cities, like Tezpur and Guwahati, an all-weather connectivity to Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang. Se-la is at 4,200 metres (13,800 feet) above sea level and above the snow line. It may be noted that Tawang is very close to the line of actual control and China claims it to be a part of its territory.
The tunnel, which is actually made up of two tunnels – measuring 475 metres (1,558 feet) and 1,790 metres (5,870 feet) in length one after the another with a short open road in between, passes through the Se-la-Charbela ridge. The ridge separates the Tawang district from the West Kameng district (Dirang circle). It will be connected to the National Highway-13 by a new 12.4-kilometre road. This will shorten the distance between Tawang town and Dirang village by 10 kilometres.
The two-lane tunnel, with one lane for each direction, is of extreme strategic importance for India. Constructed by the BRO using the latest New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) under Project Vartak, it will reduce the travel time for Indian troops to move from the garrison town of Tezpur in Assam to Tawang by at least one hour. It will also make the NH-13 an all-weather road to access Tawang, which usually gets disconnected during winter due to heavy snowfall. The tunnel will also make the 171-kilometre road between Bomdi-la and Tawang accessible in all-weather conditions.
The tunnel, which is scheduled to be completed and inaugurated in April 2023, is also expected to boost tourism in the Tawang sector, which dries up during winters because of the area’s inaccessibility due to heavy snowfall.
