For locals, Nechiphu tunnel means safer, faster transit

Nechiphu Tunnel (Arunachal Pradesh): The 500-metre tube Nechiphu tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh's West Kameng district means more for Liza Debisow than merely improving connectivity.

It also means that no one has to go through the harrowing experience her family had to endure when her brother was injured in a road accident in the area before the tunnel was constructed.

"It becomes very foggy in the area and driving is very perilous. My brother was once injured while taking the road home," Liza told PTI, expressing her happiness at the opening of the tunnel.

"But now, we can drive safely. Not just the time, the risks have also come down drastically," the teacher at a local school added.

The Nechiphu tunnel, built on the Balipara-Charduar-Tawang road in West Kameng district, is a D-shaped, single-tube, double–lane tunnel at an altitude of 1,630 metres and was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh through the virtual mode on September 12.

For Sachin Bolusow, the tunnel means a safe passage in a faster mode.

"It is mostly foggy in this region and it becomes difficult to drive under such conditions. The tunnel has cut down driving time as well as made it safer," he said.

He also pointed out that the opening of the tunnel has made transit easier for the defence personnel also, who are deployed across the state which shares its border with China.

Echoing Sachin, another local youth Hroshu Khabisow added, "Since the opening of the tunnel, there has also been a steady flow of tourists to see it.

Many of the visitors are people from nearby villages who marvel at the engineering feat and take turns to click photos on their mobile phones.

The beautifully lit interior of the tunnel is also a preferred route for recording videos by the local populace as well as travellers who use the road.

The tunnel is located in a strategic stretch which is usually affected by dense fog between the stretch Km 70.00 to Km 95.00 (current tunnel chainage is between Km 81.970 to 87.075), Border Road Organisation (BRO) officials said.

During the foggy period, the traffic on this road is obstructed and sluggish. After a series of consultations, analysis and engineering 'Nechiphu Tunnel' was conceived as the only possible solution to avert the issue, they said.

The foundation stone was laid by Singh in August 2019 and work was started in October of the same year by Dhorajia construction under EPC contract under close supervision of BRO.

The tunnel has been constructed by cutting through highly fractured and fragile rock strata under low overburden through strict 3D monitoring and through proactive application of desired tunnel support system.

"This tunnel will not only provide safe all-weather passage but will also cut short the travel time by 30 minutes and reduce road distance by 6 km of heavily, foggy stretch. This environment-friendly construction and reduction in distance will also help reduce carbon footprint in the area," the officials said.

It is equipped with modern lighting and safety facilities, besides state-of-the-art electro-mechanical systems and firefighting devices.