• NET Web Desk

Marking the culmination of excavation works, the Border Roads Organization (BRO) amid inclement weather and heavy snowfall has conducted its final blast on the 980-metres long Sela Tunnel (Tunnel 1) at West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Conducted by the Director General of BRO, Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhury, this final blast was held through an e-ceremony from New Delhi on January 22, 2022.

According to PIB report, once completed, this project will provide all weather connectivity to Tawang.

Comprising of Tunnel 1, it is a 980-metres-long single tube tunnel, while the Tunnel 2 is a 1555-metres-long twin tube tunnel.

Meanwhile, Tunnel 2 incorporates of one bi-lane tube for traffic and one escape tube for emergencies, which will act as one of the longest tunnels to have been constructed above altitude of 13,000 feet.

“This project also includes construction of an approach road of 7 kilometres to Tunnel 1, which takes off from BCT Road and a link road of 1.3 kilometres, which connects Tunnel 1 to Tunnel 2.” – the DIPR report further reads.

Its worthy to note that the foundation stone of Sela Tunnel Project was laid by PM Modi in 2019.

Meanwhile, on January 15, 2021, the excavation work on Tunnel 1 commenced after the first blast was conducted by the Director General of BRO. On October 14, 2021, the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh carried-out the breakthrough blast of the 1,555 meter Tunnel 2, through an e-ceremony from India Gate, marking the end of excavation on Tunnel 2.