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BRO completes excavation of Nechiphu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation of the project in 2019.

BRO completes excavation of Nechiphu

Sentinel Digital DeskBy : Sentinel Digital Desk

  |  21 May 2022 5:40 AM GMT

The Project Vartak of Border Roads Organization (BRO) on Friday completed the excavation of the Nechiphu tunnel in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, by performing its last blast.

The blast was initiated by BRO's Director General Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhury virtually, Tezpur-based Defence spokesman Lt Col A S Walia informed.

Project Vartak in the last 18 months had completed the excavation of the Sela and Nechiphu tunnels located on the strategic Balipara-Charduar-Tawang (BCT) road connecting Balipara in Assam to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China.

Project Vartak Chief Engineer Brig Harish Kumar informed that the 500 m Nechiphu tunnel between km 82 and 88 along the BCT road is located at an altitude of 5700 ft.

"The D-shaped tunnel will accommodate two-way traffic and will be equipped with modern lighting and safety facilities," he said.

The tunnel has been conceived to bypass extreme foggy conditions prevailing around Nechiphu pass which have remained to be a hindrance to general traffic and military convoys for many decades.

"Once in service, Nechiphu tunnel will not only provide safe all-weather passage but will also cut short the travel time by 30 min and reduce the road distance by 7 km of the heavily foggy stretch. This environment-friendly construction and reduction in distance will also help reduce the carbon footprint of the roads in the area," Brig Kumar said.

Construction of the tunnel is being accomplished by cutting through fragile Himalayan Mountains with highly fractured rock under low overburden. The same is being tackled on daily basis through strict 3D monitoring and proactive application of desired tunnel support system.

The new Austrian Tunneling method is being used to achieve construction at a fast pace. BRO personnel created a record on the tunnel by excavating 100 m in just 40 days, the defence spokesman informed.

The tunnel would be provided with a state-of-the-art electro-mechanical system including fire fighting devices, auto illumination system and SCADA controlled monitoring systems.

The tunnel would also accommodate raised footpaths on both sides for safer pedestrian movement which will have ducts to pass power cables, OFC cables and utility lines to strengthen the civic amenities infrastructure.

"This is one of the many tunnels conceived by BRO along border areas to improve existing road geometrics, avoid foggy areas, circumvent slide prone areas and reduce black spots on the roads to offer greater safety and all-weather connectivity to the military and civil traffic movement," Lt Col Walia added.

The Sela tunnel, announced by the government in 2018, will be the longest twin-lane tunnel in the world, which would cut down travel time to Tawang by at least one hour as well as provide all-weather connectivity.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation of the project in 2019.

The project consists of Tunnel 1, which is 980 metres long and Tunnel 2, a 1,555-metre twin-tube tunnel. The tunnels are coming up through two ridges west of Sela. It also includes the construction of two roads, measuring seven km and 1.3 km.

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