The Sela Tunnel – Importance and the strategic edge it promises

Why in news?

The strategically-significant Sela Tunnel project in Arunachal Pradesh is nearing completion.

The Sela tunnel was announced by the government in 2018.
It is a part of the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang road, one of the key strategic projects near the Chinese border.
It is located in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The project is being executed by the Border Roads Organisation,
This will be the longest twin-lane tunnel above 13,000 feet in the world.
The project includes two tunnels and a link road.
- Tunnel 1 is 980m long
- Tunnel 2 which is 1555m long is a twin tube tunnel.
- Tunnel 2 has one bi-lane tube for traffic and one escape tube for emergencies.
- The link road between the two tunnels will be 1,200 metres.
Tunnels longer than 1500 m needs to have to have an escape passage alongside.
The total length of the project, including the tunnels, the approach and the link roads, will be around 12 km.
The tunnels are coming up through two ridges west of Sela.

Sela Tunnel

It will cut down travel time to from Tezpur to Tawang by at least one hour as well as provide all-weather connectivity.
At the moment, Sela pass stays closed for a few winter months due to winter and heavy snowfall.
This poses serious logistics challenge for both military and civil vehicles.
Now faster deployment of weapons and soldiers to the Line of Actual Control and forward areas in the Tawang sector can be made.
Once the tunnel is ready, the road will remain open for 12 months of the year.
The local population of Tawang will no longer get cut off from the mainland

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