For Lahaul & Leh, hope at the end of this tunnel

The all-weather Atal tunnel, set to open on October 3, is not just of strategic importance. It will give residents of Lahaul valley and Ladakh access to better healthcare, supplies of everything from school books to sanitary pads in the winter as well as boost tourism in the area

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Last October, Ramesh Farka, 41, got a call from his family in Lahaul Valley’s Jispa village. He was in Manali that day and was asked to rush back as his uncle had vomited blood. Farka panicked. One couldn’t even get an X-ray done in Lahaul, so bringing him to Manali was the only option, which would have meant a 14-hour journey to and fro, and that too after securing permission to travel on the Rohtang Pass road from the Lahaul and Manali administrations. “But we were lucky that day as my uncle got treatment in time,” says the guesthouse owner.

Rigzin Angmo, 25, and her family carried 50kg of vegetables in their suitcases on the way back to Leh from Delhi. “Even then, we run out of tomatoes by Dec,” she says

Farka has reason to hope that others won’t have to depend on luck anymore or on warm weather. By September-end, the all-weather Atal Tunnel that connects Manali with Leh and is the world’s longest highway tunnel above 10,000 feet will be completed after a decade of missed deadlines and obstacles. For the people of Lahaul and Ladakh, who were earlier cut off from October to April due to cold weather, the tunnel will be a lifeline, reducing the distance between Manali and Leh by about 46km and cutting travel time from seven to two hours.