The Lahaul-Spiti Valley used to be cut off for six months a year due to heavy snowfall. No more.
The new tunnel inaugurated today will not just let travellers access the valley throughout the year, it will also reduce the travel time between Manali to Leh by four to five hours.
It's being touted as the world's longest tunnel in a high altitude environment at 9.02-kilometre. Built with ultra-modern specs in the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas, it's at 3,000 meters from the Mean Sea Level (MSL). Take a look.
The horse shoe-shaped, single-tube double lane tunnel has a south portal that is about 25 km from Manali at an altitude of 3,060 metres. The the north portal (NP) is near village Teling, Sissu in Lahaul Valley at an altitude of 3,071 metres. Vehicles will travel at a maximum speed of 80 km per hour inside the tunnel.
Built at a cost of about Rs3,300 crore, it can accommodate about 3,000 cars per day and 1,500 trucks.