The much awaited project for the construction of a 4.2 km tunnel under the Jalori Pass on the Aut-Luhri highway has now got clearance from the department . The residents of Anni and Nirmand are desperately waiting for the tunnel beneath the 10,800-ft high Jalori Pass, which will provide them all-weather connectivity to Kullu round the year.
Due to its high altitude, the Jalori Pass receives considerable snowfall during the winter every year, the residents of 58 gram panchayats of Anni and Nirmand remain cut off from the district headquarters of Kullu for months. This was forcing the residents to travel 220 km to 270 km extra to visit Kullu via Shimla or Karsog, making the journey tiring and expensive.
But now after the clearance for the construction, the Altinouk, a multinational company from Delhi has shown their interest and will further work on it
Therefore on this context, the officials of the National Highway have also issued the award letter to the producer agency. For the last three decades, the survey and tender process of the Jalori tunnel buried in the files was canceled many times, due to which the people of 70 panchayats had to bear the brunt, but this time the way for the construction of the tunnel has been cleared.
Four major companies of the country competed in the tender process conducted by the Union Ministry of Surface Transport, in which the Altynok company has received the award letter for tunnel construction. Confirming this, TS Sharma, Assistant Engineer, National Highway, said that Delhi-based company Altynok Jalodi will construct the Jot Tunnel. He told that the repair and maintenance of the tunnel will be under this company for ten years, while the survey of this five kilometer long underground tunnel was done by geologists through helicopter. He told that the route of this tunnel will be diverted from Hidab Sajwad to Khanag and will enter Kandhugad of Ani area after cutting through the snowy hills of Jalodi Jot. Significantly, due to the construction of this tunnel being built at an altitude of 10800 feet, thousands of people of about 70 panchayats of Ani will not have to face any problem even in winter. While the journey to Kullu Manali will be closer than Shimla. The construction of the said tunnel is also important from the proper point of view. With the construction of the tunnel, the movement of the army will also be facilitated in the areas of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti on the border of China.
