“The all-weather Atal Tunnel, Rohtang will give us wings to fly and a reason to stick to our roots,” said Chandresh, 22, a resident of Kutbihadi village in Lahaul valley of the tribal Lahaul Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh.
Chandresh is doing a graduate degree in Commerce in Government College Kullu. She echoes the feelings of Lahaul tribals from different walks of life, who are all looking forward to the inauguration of the all-weather 9- kilometre-long Atal Tunnel — which bypasses the Rohtang Pass — by Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow.
The young tribals, who study outside their home turf for lack of facility also prefer to settle outside and many of them never return to the native land due to the hardships they have to face for fivesix months, when they are landlocked owing to heavy snowfall on 13058 feet high Rohtang Pass. A large population from Lahaul has made Manali their second home during the winter to avoid the harsh living conditions back home.
Dubbed as a “marvel of engineering” in the tough terrain, the Rohtang Tunnel, as the locals said, was the dream project of former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had friendship with a tribal, Tashi Dawa, who had sensitised Vajpayee on the issue.
The two friends (Vajpayee and Tashi Dawa) are however no more to see their dream fulfilled. The Atal Tunnel is the longest tunnel in the world at the altitude of 10,000 feet.
It has been constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) along with private agencies during a period of ten years and it involved a budget of Rs 3200 crore. The Tunnel is stated to have strategic importance for the nation and has become more relevant in view of the ongoing border dispute with China. Lahaul and Spiti are two different valleys in Lahaul Spiti district, which are separated by over 14000 feet high Kunzum Pass. Spiti is connected to the rest of the state through the tribal district of Kinnaur.
The Atal Tunnel, which reduces the distance from Manali to Lahaul to half by bypassing Rohtang Pass, will make life easy for people in Lahaul valley, whose population is 23000 out of total 33000 population in Lahaul Spiti district.
Many locals however said they will still have to live outside Lahaul for a couple of months when the valley is under heavy snow due to absence of emergency medical facilities in the tribal belt, even as they feel that it will boost their development and economy.
“The all weather connectivity to the rest of the state will ultimately open the valley to more education and health facilities. Tourism will flourish at an untouched destination. The farmers can now transport cash crops of vegetables through the tunnel without hassle and uncertainty and will get good prices,” said a local in Keylong, Jagannath, 49, who runs a hotel. The Lahaul Spiti district had shown negative decadal growth rate of population (-5.0 per cent) from 2001 to 2011 for different reasons.
“The all-weather connectivity may help in reverse migration,” said Principal Secretary to Chief Minister JC Sharma.