Atal Tunnel is the world's longest tunnel above 10,000 feet

Tags: National News

• The United Kingdom based “World Books of Records” has officially recognised Atal Tunnel as the “World's longest Highway Tunnel above 10,000 feet above the mean seal level .”

• The Atal tunnel is 9.02 kilometres long and it runs under the Rohtang pass on the Manali-Leh Highway. 

• It is at a height of 10,171 feet and it was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 3 October 2020.

•  It has been constructed by the Border Road Organisation which comes under the Ministry of Defence . 

•  It has reduced the distance between Manali(Himachal Pradesh) and Sarchu(Leh) by 46 km and travel time by four to five hours .   

• It is an all weather road of strategic significance for the Indian Army as it opens an alternative route  to ladakh for the Army.

Manali- Leh Highway 

• It is part of the National Highway 3 which starts from Attari in Punjab to Leh in Ladakh through Manali .

• The Manali-Leh highway is 427.7 Km long .It has 178 Km in Himachal Pradesh after the opening of the Atal Tunnel and 250 Km in Ladakh .

• Sarchu in Ladakh is the major halt point at the boundary of the Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.