PM Modi inaugurates Sela tunnel in Arunachal

Itanagar, Mar 9 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress of playing with the security of the country by "neglecting" the border villages in Arunachal Pradesh as there are only two Lok Sabha seats in the state.
    After inaugurating the Sela tunnel that will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang, he claimed that the Congress government could have built it earlier but it did not.
    ''Modi does not work on the basis of the number of parliamentary seats but on the requirements of the state to make the nation strong," the prime minister said at a programme in Itanagar.
    The Congress policy has been "not to develop the border areas and keep the armed forces weak", but ''we believe in building a strong nation'', PM Modi said.
    He assured the people of Sela and Tawang that he would visit them after winning the Lok Sabha elections.
    The project will provide a faster and more efficient transport route in the region and is of strategic importance to the country as it is located near the frontier with China.
    The 825-crore Sela tunnel was constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) at an altitude of 13,000 ft.
    The foundation stone of the Sela tunnel was laid by the prime minister on February 9, 2019, and the construction work commenced on April 1 of that year.
    The PM inaugurated the Sela tunnel by flagging off an Arunachal Pradesh State Transport bus that went through it.
    Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Union Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju were present at the programme.
    Sela tunnel will not only boost the defence preparedness of the Indian armed forces in the Tawang sector but will also augment the socio-economic development of the border region, a statement said.
    The Sela tunnel is an engineering marvel and will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang across Sela pass on the Balipara-Chariduar-Tawang Road in Arunachal Pradesh, it said.
    Earlier, the route to Sela Pass had only single-lane connectivity and treacherous bends, due to which heavy vehicles and container trucks could not go to Tawang.
    The construction work of the tunnel was completed in just five years overcoming challenges of difficult terrain and adverse weather conditions, the statement said.
    It consists of two tunnels of lengths 1,003 m and 1,595 m respectively with 8.6 km approach and link roads. The second tunnel has an escape tube adjacent to the main one as per international norms.
    In case of emergency, this escape tube can be used for the movement of rescue vehicles and evacuation of stranded people.
    The tunnel has been designed for a traffic density of 3,000 cars and 2,000 trucks per day with a maximum speed of 80 km/hr. It was constructed using the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM).
    The execution of the mega project took over 90 lakh man-hours with an average of around 650 personnel and labourers working every day for the last five years, the statement added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)