Foundation stone plaque at Atal Tunnel, Rohtang, to be reinstated

Abhinav Vashisht

Kullu, December 16

After the orders of the Chief Minister, the administration and the BRO have earmarked the place to reinstate the foundation stone plaque of Atal Tunnel at Rohtang laid by the then chairperson of National Advisory Council Sonia Gandhi on June 28, 2010. Kullu DC Ashutosh Garg said that the BRO authorities have stated that the permission from the Union Ministry of Defence is awaited and the plaque would be reinstated after getting the go ahead.

Congress leaders had alleged that the foundation stone was not placed at its position during inauguration of the tunnel by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 3, 2020. The Congress leaders alleged that it was a deliberate attempt of the government to get political mileage out of the tunnel by removing the foundation stone laid by Sonia Gandhi. The Congress has been demanding the reinstatement of the foundation stone of the tunnel along with the plaque. The matter was also raised in the Vidhan Sabha.

An FIR was registered at Keylong police station in Lahaul and Spiti district in October 2020 on the complaint of District Congress Committee president Gyalchhan stating that the foundation stone of the Atal Tunnel had gone missing. In the complaint, Gyalchhan had alleged that some miscreants had removed the foundation stone of the tunnel. The case was referred to the Kullu police. During investigation, it was found that the foundation stone was safe with the construction company at its mechanical workshop near Manali.

Both the Congress and the BJP have been trying to take credit for the 9.02-km long strategically important Atal Tunnel, Rohtang, connecting Kullu and Lahaul districts constructed by spending an amount of Rs 3,200 crore.

Congress leaders claim that Rohtang tunnel was proposed by former PM Indira Gandhi and the first installment of Rs 1,355 crore was released by the Congress government under the leadership of the then PM Manmohan Singh. They further claim that 70 per cent of the work of the tunnel was completed during the UPA regime at the Centre. They say that the BJP renamed it as Atal Tunnel.

However, the BJP leaders maintain that former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had announced the construction of the tunnel between Manali and Lahaul valley in June 2002. The idea was conceived by Arjun Gopal, alias Tashi Dawa of Lahaul, who had close association with Vajpayee. Vajpayee laid the foundation stone of the approach road to the south portal of the tunnel in 2002.

The excavation work was done from both ends and it was completed on October 13, 2017, when both the ends of the tunnel met.

FIR registered in Oct 2020

An FIR was registered at Keylong in October 2020 on the complaint of District Congress Committee president who stated that the foundation stone of the Atal Tunnel had gone missing. In the complaint, he had alleged that some miscreants had removed the foundation stone of the tunnel. The case was referred to the Kullu police.

#atal tunnel #Kullu #rohtang #sonia gandhi