Driving immediately after crossing Sela Pass on the way to Tawang. this is a color photo
The final blast for the 980 meter long Sela Tunnel (Tunnel 1) was done by Director General Border Roads (DGBR) Lt Gen Rajeev Choudhary through an e-ceremony from New Delhi on Saturday, January 22, 2022.
It marks the culmination of excavation work on the entire Sela Tunnel project. The Border Roads Organization (BRO) has achieved this feat amidst bad weather and heavy snowfall.
The Sela Tunnel Project is located in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. Once completed, it will provide all-weather connectivity to the strategic border settlement of Tawang.
The project comprises Tunnel 1, which is 980 m long, Single Tube Tunnel and Tunnel 2, which is 1555 m long, Twin Tube Tunnel. Tunnel 2 has a by-lane tube for traffic and an escape tube for emergencies.
The project also includes the construction of a seven kilometer access road to Tunnel 1, which begins at BCT Road; and a link road of 1.3 km, which connects Tunnel 1 to Tunnel 2.
The Sela Tunnel will be one of the longest tunnels ever built above 13,000 feet.
The foundation stone of the Sela Tunnel project was laid by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2019. On January 15, 2021, after the first detonation by the DGBR, excavation work began on Tunnel 1.
Subsequently, on 14 October 2021, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh carried out the successful detonation of the 1,555-metre Tunnel 2, marking the end of excavations at Tunnel 2, through an e-ceremony from India Gate.
